Deaf man tased, pepper sprayed by Mobile officers for staying in bathroom too long
MOBILE, Ala. -- Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf and mentally disabled man Friday after they were unable to get him to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, authorities said.
After forcibly removing Antonio Love from the bathroom of the Azalea Road store, officers attempted to book the 37-year-old, on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer, but the magistrate on duty at the jail refused to accept any of those charges.
Antonio Love, 37, who is hearing impaired and mentally handicapped, communicates to reporters through American Sign Language at his home Monday, July 27, 2009, about having pepper spray and a Taser used on him Friday after police could not get him out of a Dollar General bathroom.Love's family members said they had no idea where he was during the time that
police had him in custody. Brodrick Love said the officers dropped his brother
off in the parking lot of their apartment building without saying what happened or why his brother had been missing for six hours.
Love's family members have filed a formal complaint against the officers.
Christopher Levy, a Police Department spokesman, said the officers didn't find out that Love had a hearing impairment until after they got him out of the bathroom and found a card in his wallet indicating he was deaf.
The officers' decision to take Love to jail -- even after they discovered his disability -- as well as their conduct throughout the incident is still under investigation, Levy said.
Use of the Taser and the pepper spray appear to be justified according to the department's policy, he said.
Love, whose family said his mental abilities are about that of a 10-year-old, wrote them a narrative of the incident as he recalled it.
The hand-scrawled, six-page note and the official police account of the confrontation are strikingly similar in their recitation of the chain of events.
http://blog.al.com/live/2009/07/deaf_man_tased_pepper_sprayed.html
MOBILE, Ala. -- Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf and mentally disabled man Friday after they were unable to get him to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, authorities said.
After forcibly removing Antonio Love from the bathroom of the Azalea Road store, officers attempted to book the 37-year-old, on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer, but the magistrate on duty at the jail refused to accept any of those charges.
Antonio Love, 37, who is hearing impaired and mentally handicapped, communicates to reporters through American Sign Language at his home Monday, July 27, 2009, about having pepper spray and a Taser used on him Friday after police could not get him out of a Dollar General bathroom.Love's family members said they had no idea where he was during the time that
police had him in custody. Brodrick Love said the officers dropped his brother
off in the parking lot of their apartment building without saying what happened or why his brother had been missing for six hours.
Love's family members have filed a formal complaint against the officers.
Christopher Levy, a Police Department spokesman, said the officers didn't find out that Love had a hearing impairment until after they got him out of the bathroom and found a card in his wallet indicating he was deaf.
The officers' decision to take Love to jail -- even after they discovered his disability -- as well as their conduct throughout the incident is still under investigation, Levy said.
Use of the Taser and the pepper spray appear to be justified according to the department's policy, he said.
Love, whose family said his mental abilities are about that of a 10-year-old, wrote them a narrative of the incident as he recalled it.
The hand-scrawled, six-page note and the official police account of the confrontation are strikingly similar in their recitation of the chain of events.
http://blog.al.com/live/2009/07/deaf_man_tased_pepper_sprayed.html
