Posted on 01/18/2014 8:15:46 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
Unnerved by a chaotic scene that involved a bolting dog, a sick husband and an aggressive police officer who ignored her pleas, it was "hardly surprising" that Suzanne LaFont tried to physically stop the officer from handcuffing her husband, Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Steven Statsinger said....
For 30 to 60 seconds on April 11, 2013, the judge noted, LaFont tried to pull on the arm and shoulder of Officer Anthony Giambra to stop him from restraining her ill husband, Karl Peltomaa, outside their apartment on West 83rd Street....
According to the ruling and LaFont's papers, her husband had only been home from Roosevelt Hospital for one day after surgery for an aortic aneurysm when he began to feel very anxious on April 11, 2013. In two calls to 911, LaFont said her husband had just been in the hospital, was on a "lot of medication" and that he was "freaking out."
LaFont also explained that Peltomaa did not have a "psych history," just a "medical history."
When Giambra and other first responders arrived a short time later, LaFont's dog dashed out the door. After returning the dog to the apartment, LaFont said she found Giambra attempting to subdue her much smaller husband by pressing his chest against a hallway wall.
She said that despite her trying to tell the officer that Peltomaa had just had open-heart surgery, he threw her husband face down onto the floor. According to statements by the couple, Peltomaa was hospitalized for two days following the incident with a cut to his chin and a dislocated thumb....
"Rather than interfering with the responders' task, her providing them with accurate medical information about Peltomaa could have assisted them in managing the situation more effectively," the judge wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at newyorklawjournal.com ...
One more demonstration that strange and sick things are going on in American police “academies”. They need to be monitored by civilians with no connections to law enforcement.
Sounds like another case of don’t call the police unless you are prepared for extreme consequences.
They didn’t taser him. They didn’t even say “We don’t have time for this” and shoot him. They didn’t even shoot the dog.
link doesn’t have the whole article opened
Tru dat. Odds are if you do it, you’d better be prepared to lose a family member, or a dog.
She was lucky. Don’t call the cops in such a situation. That was a big mistake. Call the medical first responders, if necessary.
Considering all the Marxists who live in that area and all the fundraisers they held for the Marxist Kenyan - once a week last election - I say amp up those beatings and don’t stop. NYC Professor - Do we even have to guess he wears a Che’ shirt?
Call 911 for medical help and the cops arrive for free.
I don’t know if it’s true for NYC, but I can call an ambulance without getting the cops involved. I would have done that in this case.
Jeeze -- Was the cop trying to kill him?
Too many cops without much to do. They like to exercise once in a while and pretend the innocent victim is a perpetrator.
Here in the south we have so many small towns that hire police far out of proportion to the population and where there is very little crime. When a call finally comes in they swarm to the scene and act like apes. You see three and four cars out on an interstate, where they don’t belong anyway, for a speeder stop.
Sheriff departments, police departments need to be eliminated and the policing duties turned over to the state police. Like everything else in America there’s too damned much duplication and empire building!
It's good to think ahead of time about how you are going to seek help in various circumstances. Only ask for police if somebody needs to be violently subdued or shot, because that's what will likely happen if the cops show up. Also keep in mind that the 911 dispatcher is likely to not be very bright -- DO NOT utter "key words" that might make her conclude that violent response is needed.
If it's anything to do with an anxiety attack or other medical emergency, you need to just say to 911 "I need paramedics at [address], my XXX is in medical distress". This will put the dispatcher on her "medical" script, where she will ask you for symptoms, what medications he's on, .etc
At some point I hope even these erstwhile stormtroopers will start to feel sheepish. There need to be more judges with a heart like this. Sometimes bare sterile law doesn’t do it... now here I am sounding like a liberal. But (and you are free to disagree, but this is what I note) liberals are often would-be Christians with no Christ and are trying to do it in the flesh.
Money used for police, is better spent on prosecutors, courts, and prisons. Police might catch a criminal, but if the courts and prisons are overloaded, then guess what, the guy is back on the street. With sufficient prosecution capability, there is less incentive to plea bargain, and a criminal, once caught, STAYS off the street.
I would also hope that police departments will realize when they are not the kind of help that is needed, and will summon paramedics if they happen to get called by mistake.
Sadly enough, the citizens survived their interaction with the cop.
The cop didn’t even pick up the extra point for shooting the dog!...
I’d sooner pay for preachers!
Well, this is a case where a square peg insisted on cramming itself into a round hole.
Since people so often think police when someone has gone more crazy than criminal, savvy police departments should begin cross-training in paramedic procedures. Not everything alarming needs to be met with crime fighting tools... really.
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