Cops Bodyslam 87-Year-Old Alzheimer's Lady Smash Her Head Into Ground

[Joanne98]

Run time: 07:08 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkmoJdsQ3KU   Posted on YouTube: May 15, 2010 By YouTube Member: TheValeterUK Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: May 16, 2010 By DU Member: Joanne98 Views on DU: 3400

 

[guruoo]

1. She had a gun?

Can't tell for sure, I thought the cop asked, 'maam, could you put down the gun?'.

[Tx4obama]

6. She had a knife

The daughter left her mom in the car when she ran into Wal-Mart.
The old lady got confused, got out of the car, started wandering around the parking lot,
apparently with a knife that she found in the car.

[ladjf]

2. What in the hell has happened to America? This old lady should

have been escorted out of the street. It appeared to me that bystanders were wanting to intervene on her behalf. Has there been any followup on the outcome of this?

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Background? Where? When?

[Tx4obama]

9. Here ya go...

At Walmart in Columbus, Ohio 08/01/2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv7qyXvoM5E

Here's the video of the story that was on the news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML3ifpNtN5A

[Tx4obama]

4. That's an old video from last year

Beat down at Walmart in Columbus, Ohio 08/01/2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv7qyXvoM5E

[WhoIsNumberNone]

15. Yeah- I thought I'd seen this before

I think I saw it posted on Craig's List when it was current. All the cop-groupies over there were rationalizing their asses off.

[The Wizard]

5. She must have looked like a terrorist(NT)

[guruoo]

7. Aug 9, 2009: Cop bodyslams knife-wielding elderly woman, nearly causing 'riot'...

http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/08/video-ohio-cop-bodyslams-knife-wielding-grandma/

[happyslug]

8. I am sorry the video is poor when it comes to the actual incident

All I saw was an elderly woman walking in a parking lot. She appears confused and the Female Officer approached her and started to ask her questions. Then the film goes "crazy" i.e. the person filming the incident did NOT stay still, instead ran/or other wise did a rapid series of movement and tried to compensate at the same time. I can understand what happen, something was going on and the person making the film was somehow excited, either was running, walking, or just going up and down but that was the point the film maker needed to just stand still and hold the camera still. If the film maker had done that we would have a better idea of what happened.

Any way the way I see the film, is the female officer approached the elderly woman something happened. What I can not tell, but the officer ended up feeling a need to secure the woman AFTER she was on the ground. It is unclear how the elderly woman ended up on the ground, the officer may have knocked her, she may had fell. I CAN NOT TELL AFTER LOOKING AT THE FILM. If the elderly woman fell, the officer did nothing wrong. If the elderly woman was knocked on the ground, the question is why did the officer do it? If the officer thought it was necessary then it was legal, if the officer can NOT show just cause then the officer should be fired, but my review of the film shows nothing the officer did wrong.

I wrote the above before the comments that the elderly woman had a knife (Which adds to justification of what the police did), sorry not enough here to show misconduct by the police.

[TheEuclideanOne]

25. What the fuck is wrong with you?

You seriously watched the video and concluded that there is not enough here to show misconduct by the police? You must be one of those folks who will watch even the most extreme examples of police misconduct and conclude that nothing wrong was done by the police.

But who can argue with your logic.....the 87-year old, extremely frail, confused alzheimers patient did have a knife and that did add to justification of what the police did. There is also that other gem.... the camera panned away for a second and the 87 year old was on the floor with the entire crowd suddenly screaming in horror about the police officer throwing her to the ground. Yet, since it wasn't on film, you can conclude that maybe she just fell down.

I really hate that there are people with brains like yours in this world.

[happyslug]

26. From what I can see from the film is the woman could have felled

I saw the officer confront the elderly woman, I see a response, then the camera goes up and down to a degree I can't see ANYTHING. The woman would have been knocked down, the woman could have fell and the officer trier to catch her (and the officer might have stood still, the camera is moving to much to tell otherwise). The next firm picture is the officer squatting over the woman, BUT not is position as an officer who have knock someone down, more in a position seeing what had happened and telling the woman to stay down till the ambulance comes. That set of picture does NOT fit into a scenario of the officer hitting the elderly woman.

Sorry, the picture is of so poor quality it shows NOTHING as to any physical confrontation between the officer and the elderly woman (and at the same time it is so poor is also does NOT show such actions did NOT occur). If you see more then that you either had better eyes then I do, so maybe you have a still by still set of the picture of what happened. The picture is NOT clear as to what happened at the time the elderly woman fell to the ground. It could be a knock down, it could be a fall, it could be something else. From the movie I CAN NOT TELL. Also remember one important fact, the Officer does NOT have to prove anything, the elderly woman had a knife and was carrying around in the parking lot. If you want to show police misconduct you have to show clear evidence of misconduct. The burden of proof is NOT on the Officer but the side that whats to show misconduct. This video is NOT enough to show such misconduct.

[TheEuclideanOne]

27. I think that is what bugs me

I can picture this case being heard in court and a lawyer making the case with some of the very logic that you are using. She had a knife dammit!!!!! The police had no other way of handling this. That type of reasoning I am sure gets police off of these types of charges all the time. At the same time, a year or two down the line, a police officer gets shot and killed by somebody as an indirect result of peoople like yourself being "correct".

I also watched another video of this incident with another police officer saying that it was handled in the correct way. In my own personal opnion, the police should handle a frail 87 year old woman different than some 20 year old male who is hyped up on drugs.

[happyslug]

30. The knife is unimportant

The problem is NOT the knife (Through the woman holding the knife is an added factor) but that the film itself DOES NOT show the actual incident. One minute you see the Officer approaching the elderly woman, the next minute the camera is all over the place and you can NOT see what is happening except that they is mass confusion, then you see the Officer squatting over the elderly woman. The actual fall of the woman is NOT able to be seen in the video. She might have been tossed, she might have fell, I can NOT tell what happen by this video. Unlike the Rodney King Video (Which clearly showed the Police Officer beating Rodney king while he laid on the ground) this video does NOT show the actual abuse. Now the Rodney King Video was attacked in court on the grounds it did NOT show the whole incident just the actual abuse (Which was enough for Rodney King to prevail on a Civil Abuse action, but the criminal action failed), but it clearly showed the abuse. The police won the criminal case against them do to a lack of context (The person making the video was to far away and started filming AFTER Rodney King's Two passengers were already in handcuffs, a fact that can NOT be seen in the King Video). On the other hand the abuse was clear enough for Rodney King to win a Civil Lawsuit (The standard of proof is different for a Civil Lawsuit and a Criminal Action, Civil lawsuit is preponderance of evidence, the criminal element is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the lack of context meant it was possible for the Officer to hit Rodney King under some conditions that could occur. Civil Litigation is simple, what do you believe what happened with the only proof needed being that the Jury finds one side more believable then the other (And the Rodney King Video clearly showed that, yes, it was possible for the Officer to have had to bear Rodney king, but it was unlikely and thus they were liable).

I bring up Rodney King for the overall video of the actual incident is better in the King Video then this one. The overall quality of this video is better then the Rodney King Video (Mostly the result of the vast improvement in recording technology since the days of VHS Tapes) BUT the view of the incident is LOST as the Video Taker get so excited that he loses the Elderly Woman at the time she either was knocked down or fell. Even in Civil Litigation you have to have EVIDENCE that something wrong happened. The fact the elderly woman was up one minute and down the next proves nothing for it could be the result of something the officer did OR something the elderly woman did. The Video would have been better if the video taker had just sat still, the problem with the video is when he or she moved the camera to get a better view of what was happening.

My point is the video is BAD if you what it to show police abuse, it does NOT clearly show abuse, something happened and people were excited (Including the video maker) but what happened can NOT be seen in this video. Maybe if someone would reduce it to a frame by frame picture show we may be able to see something, but as it is it shows nothing.

Now I was able to get to a better video screen and review the video again, the problem remains that the video maker moved his camera to much at the time we needed a stable video, but a clearer picture of what happened can be seen. The Officer, after asking the woman to drop the knife, appears to have tried to grab the arm with the knife in it trying to twist the arm so the elderly woman would drop the knife. In the scuffle that follows the elderly woman seems to have fallen. The Officer appears to try to secure the arms of the woman, with a passer by holding onto the elderly woman's left hand (The passer by seems to lose the arm and it almost hits the officer who then secures both hands). A little rough, and I suspect more then the officer expected, but given that the knife was in the elderly woman's hand almost standard police behavior (Secure all weapons, either by getting them your self OR making sure any other party can NOT ready get at them).

As I said before the screen I first view this on, combined with the movement of the Camera I could NOT see the interconnection of the Officer and the elderly woman. Switch screens, and I can make out the actual contact and again I see nothing that raises to abuse. The elderly woman ended up on the ground, but it is clear that the officer was going after the arm with the knife NOT the woman herself. The elderly woman subsequently fell, but that happens in such situations. The actions of the officer appears to be more to secure the weapon then any actual attack on the elderly woman, the problem was the act to disarm unbalanced the elderly woman and she fell. Again NOT up to the level of misconduct, you need more the what happened here to have misconduct.

[TheEuclideanOne]

33. This is probably why many more cases are won in civil court than criminal court

I am pretty sure that if the video was crystal clear and the police officer clotheslined the 87 year old alzheimer's patient in a way similar to what you would see in professional wrestling that you could still ask just about any police officer and their answer would be "The cop acted exactly as they should have". (okay, maybe I am exgaggerating, but not all that much). In Civil court, people can take into consideration the laws of common sense and when a lawyer makes a similar conclusion to yours "The actions of the officer appears to be more to secure the weapon", people can decide that, "Hey, maybe there was a different way to secure the weapon than what the police officer did". I am guessing that in civil court, the police do not have the same overly protective laws working in their favor so that they can do their jobs when they need to. The same laws that they take advantage of. If this were her grandmother, do you think she would have acted the same way in removing the knife? Heck, the people around the old lady were not even alarmed. There was probably more concern for the lady to not hurt herself.

I was at the book store the other day and watched a lady around the same age as this woman try to take a step off of a curb. She was close to falling if she didn't do it quite right. I think that police officers, in general, should be trained to consider the circumstances when they act. Apparently they don't. When other people witness actions based on the logic of "I am doing this because I can", it is what leads to other people killing police officers. So, this case will no doubt be won in criminal court because some lawyer will argue, "We didn't get that 2 seconds when she fell on tape so we have no idea what happened", but the cost will come from the people who witnessed it, their friends, family, etc.

[Devil_Fish]

32. Yes, clearly they should have tazed her. N/T

[Tx4obama]

10. More info: Here's the news story video that was on TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML3ifpNtN5A

[ezmerelda39]

11. Must have been

a slow day to have that many backup cops on this 'deadly' scene. Where were the squat teams? Where was the riot gear. Will they require Martial Law to quell this obscene mob?

[veganlush]

12. it used to be that being a cop took bravery and sacrifice

..it used to be "to protect and to serve" still is I guess, but now it's themselves that they protect and serve...often on drug busts now they just shoot the dog as a matter of course, it's just collatoral damage, like the kicked-in door...

[backscatter712]

13. Now it takes bravery and sacrifice...

for regular citizens to walk the streets at all when cops are around...

[Greyhound]

28. To Protect (the rich) and to Serve (the status quo). There have been similar assaults

and murders committed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times since the militarization of our police forces began in the 80's.

We had a twenty-something cop literally blow a street lady in her 70's nearly in half because she "came at him with a screwdriver". She weighed less than 90lbs., he was over 200.

She's dead, he's still a cop.

[Webster Green]

14. Typical pig behavior.

Pigs are fucking assholes who get off on bullying people.

[Mike K]

18. That's true for some cops -

- but certainly not for all. And we should not lose sight of the fact that many of those who cops routinely deal with are predatory sociopaths who go through life feeding off others.

I personally have nothing but respect for cops who do what the citizens are paying them to do and do it according to the rules. But I have nothing but contempt for narcs and vice cops, most of whom appear to be rather scummy, thug-like characters who derive perverse pleasure from inflicting misery upon people who for the most part are harming no-one -- except, in some cases, themselves.

[Webster Green]

21. I know, the 99% who are bullying asswipes ruin it for all the rest.

:eyes:

[icee]

24. For the most part, cops are megalomaniacs. I stay away from

them. I testify against them whenever I can.

[raouldukelives]

16. I feel safer already

:scared:

[AnneD]

17. On two occasion.......

I have had to deal with confused adults. I live near the medical center and some disreputable places 'dump' these folks after their insurance runs out. In one instance, The policeman found her family and took her home and in the other case I don't know (it was in a diner and the staff did not know what to do).

The elderly lady wondered into my apartment door that the repair man left open. She accused me of being in her apartment and threatened me. I managed to coax her out side on the patio (while the chicken shit repairman high tailed out leaving me to deal with her. It was hot and I figured she was dehydrated, which really makes the elderly more confused. I offered her some tea and while I was inside called 911. I detained her (with some cantaloupe to eat) until the police came for her. The officer was so nice. I took him aside and told him I thought she was dumped and needed to have her people notified. What a great guy (he was older than those young pups in the video). He managed to contact the facility (I am sure he threatened them for dumping this poor old woman), get her address and take her home. Now that is what a cop should do-not body slam them, or even taser. He didn't try to reason with her or back off. Even with a knife-how fast can she move and how much strength does she have. A body slam is excessive force.

With the other guy, the staff called him a taxi while I called the police. Fortunately the cab driver brought him back just as the police arrived. The poor guy seemed grateful to get in the police car.


Police need better training to deal with the mentally ill and elderly. As a Nurse, I have dealt with confused Alzheimer's patients, and have even dealt with the combative, but I have never felt the need to body slam them. The real challenge is to get them to surrender peacefully. Using brute force shows lack of skill and imagination.

[pundaint]

19. Bogus and inflammatory headline. Not helpful.

[donheld]

23. Truthful headline - old story

Officer Tammy Scott was the one who did the slamming in a wal-mart parking lot in Columbus Ohio

[pundaint]

29. I saw a cop disarm an elderly old lady, she did go to the ground. I saw no "body slam," and I saw

no "head smsash." The headline was a Fox news quality description - telling us what the author wanted us to believe despite what the actual film shows to work us up about their enemy.

[donheld]

31. Look again I saw it.

[stlsaxman]

20. old vid.

[donheld]

22. This video is actually several months old 8/1/2009

not that it excuses what happened