Arrested for Epilepsy: When a seizure gets you thrown in jail (& tasered)

[pnwmom]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2675812&page=1

SNIP

When the Oakland County Sheriff's Department arrived on the scene, Beloungea was still undergoing his seizure, acting disoriented and not responding to questions.

When officers couldn't get through to Beloungea they drew their weapons, shocked him with a high-voltage taser, hit him with a baton and wrestled him to the ground. They then handcuffed him and put him in a police car.

Oakland County Undersheriff Michael McCabe said that the officers tasered Beloungea because he lunged at one of them. Beloungea and his lawyer say the more police got physical the more Beloungea got agitated and aggressive — typical behavior, according to the Epilepsy Foundation of America, for a person restrained while having a partial complex seizure. Beloungea's wild motions and inability to communicate were not defiance or resistance, but classic symptoms of epilepsy

The officers put Beloungea in jail, citing assault of a police officer and resisting arrest. Throughout the incident Beloungea, was wearing a medical alert bracelet identifying him as an epileptic, stating his name and the contact numbers of people who can be reached in case of an emergency.

SNIP

NOTE: He ended up having to plead "not guilty by reason of insanity."

[WindRavenX]

1. I read this last night and was appalled

There are no words to describe how ill I felt when I read this.

[jwirr]

3. As the mother of a young woman who has almost daily seizures

I have the words but they are too filthy to say even on DU. I thought that they educated the police now adays. These policemen are by far the most stupid people I have ever seen. It sounds like the court system out there isn't much better. Guilty by reason of insanity, my ass.

[K8-EEE]

9. My daughter is autistic

it scares me to death what they might do to her for a "crime" of not understanding/processing orders fast enough. She is very well behaved as a rule but panics when startled or when people "get in her face.." she just can't tolerate it and shuts down when that happens.

[spindrifter]

2. There are also incidents

from time to time with diabetics. Police need more training in medically-related behavioral issues, such as disorientation, combativeness, and so forth so they can make appropriate triage decisions.

[IDemo]

4. There was a thread a day or so ago on this story

Yeah, this makes me squirm a bit as a type 1 diabetic. One of the things that can occur during a bad hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episode is the release of large amounts of adrenalin into the body. Not a good combination with kilovolt-happy police.

[pnwmom]

5. That's right. Diabetics have been subjected to the same treatment.

Even when, as this man was, they are wearing their medic alert bracelet.

[BlooInBloo]

24. Redmond, WA., if I recall.

[zreosumgame]

10. that's waaaay to hard for them

easier to beat the shit out of them and toss em in jail then lie about it. Those dammed 'civilians' can't be thinking they are as good as cops are...

[pdxbecca]

6. I was arrested once for having a migraine headache

I was throwing up outside of my car and the police accused me of dui. I was told by several lawyers that I don't have a case because if I "appeared" drunk the police had "probable cause" to arrest me and treat me like a criminal.

[pnwmom]

7. That's awful. Can they do that even without

a breathylyzer?

Welcome to DU, pdxbecca!

[pdxbecca]

8. They gave me a breathylyzer

but not until they took me into the station in handcuffs. After I blew .00 they accused me of being drugged and called in a narcotics officer, it was horrible.

[ThomCat]

12. As someone who gets migrains frequently

this is terrifying. x(

It sounds like you needed a much more agressive lawyer, but it also sounds like one more way that things are stacked against people with any kind of health problem.

[HeeBGBz]

14. I was stopped and harrassed for menstrual "cramps"

I was walking to the convenience store for asprin one morning back in the 70's. I was stopped, questioned and searched for drugs because I looked suspicious. IE: In major pain.

[genieroze]

17. Did the term Breathalyzer mean anything to those assholes.

I thought they have portable ones.

[genieroze]

18. I was made fun of by the Beachwood NJ police for having an allergic

reaction to Nuprin. They were saying I was overdosing on crack. (which I never did in my life)I'm gasping for air turning purple and my body is covered in hives and I swelled up like a balloon. The ambulance came after a while (when the cops got done making fun) and said the many people are allergic to it. It was my first time taking it and I had a migraine. It wasn't my night. Suppose I was overdosing on crack isn't that a good reason to dial 911 as well as ones throat closing? Now I'm terrified to call 911, I drive myself or have my family members drive to the hospital if it involves those police.

[rman]

25. "probable cause" to arrest is one thing,

though imo still over the top in your case.
To be treated as a criminal without being found guilty is one of the things that changed since 9/11.

[Pastiche423]

11. This coming week

I am going to take a copy of this article to my local police station. Police need to be informed on the symptoms of and the way to respond to someone having a seizure.

When I read this article a couple of days ago, it really scared me, as I am epileptic. Sometime it takes up to an hour after seizing before I can get the words in my brain to come out of my mouth.

And now that I think about it, I am going to email a copy to our county sheriff. (I have campaigned for him in the last three elections.)

[pnwmom]

23. Sounds like an excellent idea. Good luck!

[jwirr]

26. Be nice about it, suggest that it would help if local doctors or

someone like that would be asked to do a seminar for all policemen. It appears that there are a lot of mishandling going on when it comes to illnesses.

[Arkana]

13. What the fuck?

As someone with epilepsy (albeit a mild, controllable form) I find this absolutely repulsive. What the hell is wrong with cops today?

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Unreal! I hope those cops feel awful

[genieroze]

16. Hope he sues the shit out of them.

[longship]

19. Madness. F*cking madness.

The country's gone stark raving, barking mad.

[NVMojo]

20. this is so incredibly fucked up and shameful!! I am stunned!

Literally! Time for a LTTE!!!

[John Q. Citizen]

21. It's all about control. When the cops can't control a situation they get very

scared. And dangerous. And of course they can't control epilepsy.

They are control freaks and paid to be.

[CreekDog]

22. deleted

[Kerrytravelers]

27. Did no one notice his med alert bracelet?

To be wary is understandable, but when you see a med alert bracelet, that should clue you in a bit. And to actually look at the bracelet seems, for these guys, a stroke of genius. :eyes:

[spinbaby]

28. Here's the worst part of the story

"Beloungea was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity. Beloungea is not insane — he's simply epileptic. But his lawyer, Otis Underwood, told ABC News there was no other way to get Beloungea off the charges than the insanity defense. The catch: He had to spend 20 days locked in a criminal mental facility."

The man was incarcerated for amost three weeks.

[noonwitch]

29. Some people's seizures are very different from others

I knew a guy who had seizures, and I told him to get a med bracelet (for all the good it did the poor guy in the story) because if he had a seizure in public, someone would know to call for an ambulance. His seizures did not always involve being unconcious, they involved involuntary speech (like tourette's syndrome) and he seemed conscious when they ocurred, so sometimes he'd be in public alone, have one, and those around him called the police because they didn't know.

It doesn't look like the police in this situation understood what was going on-there may be more to the story than we see. I just know that if my aquaintance was having a seizure and the police were called, the police may jump to the conclusion that he was acting in a dangerous manner and act without having all the information.

This is one of those situations where I can see both sides of it. I can see cops overreacting for reasons I can understand, and I see the poor epileptic guy getting tasered, which probably made the seizure worse.