Teen Loses Cochlear Implant After Being Tased

Cochlear Implant helps people hear? A Tennessee teen loses cochlear implant after being tased who failed to hear the officer’s command.

LAFOLLETTE, Tennessee -- A Deaf teenager tased by a sheriff’s deputy because he couldn’t hear the officer’s command to stop. To make matter’s worse, when he fell, his expensive cochlear implant was lost. The teen was released when they realized there had been a mistake.

The young Campbell County man wears a cochlear implant. It’s a complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly Deaf or severely hard of hearing.

His device wasn’t working 11 days ago, following an unfortunate incident in which the young man couldn’t communicate with sheriff’s deputies who were responding to an emergency call in Lafollette.

19-year-old Brett Elkins is Deaf and he is a graduate of the Tennessee School for the Deaf.

His mother showed us where Brett’s cochlear implant was located; the surgical scar is behind his right ear, about the size of a quarter.

But you don’t see the device, that’s because it was lost when Elkins was tased and fell to the ground incapacitated on October 11.

Elkins had gone to a friend’s house to use their phone to have his mother pick him up. As he was leaving the house, he didn’t know that Campbell County deputies had been called there for a domestic dispute between Brett’s friends.

"Jamie Wilhoit, Elkins’ mother, saying, “He was walking, he felt a shock, his arms fell beside him, and he fell over. He assumed it was his cochlear, that it had malfunctioned, that was the first thing he thought. He was scared and crying. His cochlear implant had died, the batteries weren’t working, it wasn’t charged.”

Elkins’ implant was new, it came from TennCare. He said somehow it fell off after being tased.

He and his mother went back to look for it, but it hasn’t been found.

We received a copy of the sheriff’s report, and deputies didn’t know Brett was Deaf when he failed to respond to their commands.

It states he was released once determined he had nothing to do with the domestic disturbance. Deputies also called an ambulance to check him out, however, there is no reference to the implant.

"Connie Hull, Elkins’ grandmother, saying, “He got the cochlear three weeks ago. It was $8,000, they just don’t hand those out left and right.”

Brett showed us his back where several prongs from the taser gun left welts after suffering a five second shock, according to the incident report.

His mother telling us that Elkins would like an apology and for them to replace his cochlear implant.

"A ranking officer from the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office called Elkins’ mother and said, “Sheriff Goins has talked to with our insurance provider and they are willing to pay for Brett’s implant.”

Elkins and his mother were overwhelmed.

“Wow! Oh my God, oh, they cared, they cared.”

Jamie Wilhoit – Elkins’ mother.

It will take a few weeks before Elkins’ fitted with a new cochlear device.

Sheriff Robbie Goins telling us that domestic violence calls are the most danger his deputies face, and they have to make split second judgement calls with the information they have during the situation.

He also said his deputies acted reasonably under the circumstances when they first confronted Elkins. Sheriff Goins is pleased to learn that Elkins and his family are happy with the resolution.

SOURCE - WATE

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Deaf Man Parked Illegally, Slapped Officer

San Diego Police respond to use of force with mace and taser on Deaf man over a parking ticket.

SAN DIEGO, California -- San Diego Police are responding to allegations that they used excessive force on a Deaf man after he got upset over a traffic ticket.

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It happened Monday afternoon on 5th Avenue in Hillcrest. The man, identified by SDPD as 48-year-old Jeffrey Robinson of Los Angeles, stopped in the resale shop, Flashbacks, to inquire about selling shoes.

His car was parked illegally in a 20-minute commercial loading zone on 5th Ave. near University Ave. The employees in the store say he was only parked there a few minutes when a parking enforcement officer showed up.

"He couldn't speak, so he was communicating via a legal pad we had, as he was writing something to ask us, he saw that he was going to get a ticket," said Tiara Arreloa.

Arreloa and a couple other witnesses say Robinson was using sign language to try to communicate with the parking officer when she pepper sprayed him.

"He wasn't touching her, his hands were just here. He was trying to talk to her," insisted Arreola.

SDPD Lt. Scott Wahl says the photos making the rounds on social media don't tell the whole story.

"There's a lot more going on then maybe the small angle that they see," said Wahl.

Wahl says according to the parking officer and three separate witnesses, Robinson ran towards the officer in an aggressive manner.

"He ended up slapping the parking enforcement officer's hand away as she put the ticket onto the windshield of his car. As she was backing away from him, he crumpled up the ticket and threw it at her, bounced it off of her chest," said Wahl.

He says Robinson pounded on the window of the officer's car and continued advancing toward her. He says she deployed pepper spray after he refused repeated orders to comply.

"Parking enforcement officers don't have to wait until they're punched in the face to protect themselves against somebody who is starting to demonstrate this type of behavior," said Wahl, who pointed out that parking attendants are not sworn officers.

"You gotta remember our parking enforcement officers are not police officers, they don't have bullet proof vests, they don't carry guns, they're not trained like a police officer is," said Wahl.

SOURCE - KGTV

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Deaf Man Beaten, Tasered and Choked by Police

California Deaf man beaten, tasered and choked by police for not understanding commands awarded $55,000 settlement.

LOS ANGELES -- PINAC News: After mistaking a Deaf man for a thief, beating him, tasering him and choking him because he was unable to understand their commands, the Hawthorne Police Department in southwest Los Angeles has settled a lawsuit for $55,000. The settlement was approved by the City Council on Tuesday in California.

The Deaf man identified as Jonathan Meister and co-plaintiff Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness Inc. will receive the settlement on the basis of civil rights violations under the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Meister was at a friends house in February 2013 gathering items from his vehicle when a neighbor called police thinking he was a car thief, according to NBC Los Angeles.

Although there were four officers that responded to the call, Officers Jeffrey Salmon and Jeffrey Tysl were identified as the aggressors.

Once on scene, they yelled out to Meister and he in return motioned that he was Deaf.

The officers motioned for Meister to come towards them, which he did, but then they grabbed his wrists and placed his hands behind his back – a very uncomfortable position for Meister given the fact that he is Deaf and uses his hands to speak.

The lawsuit, which can be read here, describes how officers Salmon and Tysl got close to Meister and roughed him up. Amidst the miscommunication, Meister ran away from the officers who gave chase, only to catch him, fight with him more and taser him.

The officers pushed Meister up against the wall. Officer Salmon put Meister in a choke hold and subsequently kneed him twice in the abdomen.

Officer Tysl then punched Meister in the face repeatedly.

That was when Salmon shot Meister with a Taser X-26 which brought Meister careening to the ground. Officers kicked and elbowed Meister repeatedly while another officer shocked him a second time with the taser.

After a second choke hold and third Taser shock, Meister lost consciousness.

According to the suit, the officers, “shot taser darts into Mr. Meister, administered a number of painful electric shocks, struck him with fists and feet, and forcibly took him to the ground.”

“They ended up grabbing his arms and turning him around, and if you do that to a deaf person, it’s like gagging them. It would be like if I put my hand over your mouth if you try to tell me something,” says Meister’s lawyer John Burton.

Meister was arrested, taken to the hospital, and then into custody at the county jail, but officials dropped the charges at the jail due to the circumstances.

The suit claims Meister suffered, “extreme physical pain and suffering, humiliation, hardship, anxiety, and indignity, and severe mental and emotional anguish pain.”

Meister is a graduate of the University of Ohio and holds a Masters degree in Architecture. In a recollection of events, Meister’s wrote:

“I didn’t mean to resist — it’s ultimately my responsibility. But, with claustrophobia, logic gets pushed down a bit! I did not mean to resist, only to put space between myself and the officers so I could communicate.”

Per the settlement, the Hawthorne Police Department has pledged to change its communication and use of force policies regarding Deaf civilians. The new policy includes providing qualified interpreters to jailed deaf suspects, a booking video and transcript to describe the arrest process, and a video or TTY phone.

Just a few months ago in Charlotte, NC a Deaf man was shot and killed by a state highway patrol officer. The man lead officers on a brief high speed chase. When the chase came to an end, the Deaf man exited his vehicle charging at the officer on foot who in return fatally shot the man after repeated verbal commands to stop.

The North Carolina Highway Patrol officer has not yet been charged with a crime because the investigation is still pending.

SOURCE

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Police Brutality Taser On Innocent Deaf Woman

Tacoma police used force to arrest and handcuff an innocent Deaf woman after she called 911 for their help.

TACOMA, Washington -- She called for police assistance after a guest reportedly attacked her in her own apartment.

Deaf since birth, White used a special video-equipped phone, connected to a TV and a Web camera, to call 911.

A certified American Sign Language interpreter on the other end verbally relayed White’s pleas for help to a Tacoma police dispatcher.

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Instead of an apology, she ended up bloody and in jail for nearly three days without an interpreter before a prosecutor declined to press charges...
Read The Full Story.

Watch Video in ASL: Deaf Woman Helpless Without Interpreter:
https://kirotv.com/videos/news/deaf-woman-helpless-without-interpreter.

Watch Raw Video: 911 Call Through Sign Language Interpreter:
https://kirotv.com/videos/news/raw-911-call-through-sign-language-interpreter.

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