Wow this is a shocking story:
An Ohio man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against a sheriff’s deputy and a state trooper, accusing them of using excessive force after he was shot in the eye with a Taser stun gun, causing permanent near blindness.
…Last May, Kelly was asleep in the passenger seat when his friend was pulled over for drunken driving on Interstate 71 between Cincinnati and Columbus, according to The Columbus Dispatch, (http://bit.ly/1sxLahz).
When Ohio State Trooper Bryan Cook woke Kelly, he was startled and began flailing his arms, according to the lawsuit.
Fayette County Deputy Clinton Sines then drew his Taser, opened the passenger door and shouted for Cook to get out of the truck and show his hands as he grabbed the back of Kelly’s sweatshirt and tried to pull him out, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says Sines was apparently unaware that a still-confused Kelly was restrained by his seat belt.
“I’ll taze you,” Sines told Kelly as he continued to yank Kelly from the truck, according to the lawsuit.
When Sines’ grip slipped, Kelly rose. That’s when Sines fired his Taser, striking Kelly in the right eye, where a Taser prong became lodged.
Kelly fell back into the seat and covered his head with both arms, and Sines fired a second jolt into his eye, the lawsuit says.
When Sines tried to pull Kelly out of the car again, that’s when he realized Kelly’s seat belt was on. Cook then reached in and released it.
Kelly was taken to a nearby hospital, where an eye surgeon had to remove the Taser prong, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit says that the Taser permanently damaged Kelly’s retina and caused near-total vision loss in his right eye. It says he also suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, other psychological injures and has caused a loss of enjoyment of his life.
I’m not sure of the START of this story, but I can see how somebody can be drunk enough to know they need to have their friend drive them home, but not aware enough to know their friend might not be in the best condition to drive. I’ve certainly seen more than enough people say “No, I’m fine!” when they shouldn’t be driving. Thankfully in my case that was never their last words.
Still from the sound of it this guy was PASSED out, what’s the damn hurry to get him out of the car? Sure sounds like the cop was looking to clear the vehicle lickety-split, given that he woke the man up hard enough that he flailed, and was pulling him out without noting his seatbelt was fastened.
I mean, you have the door open, and you have a taser and a gun, why not step back a few feet first? Also why would you EVER have a taser pointed at somebody’s head? Not only can you have horrible damage like this being done, but also I would wonder how effective the charge from the device would be if it stuck into somebody’s cheek or forehead.
Seems like stupidity that put this man’s eye out!
