Mother sues Allentown officer who used Taser on her daughter - Polidicks

[release] The mother of a 14-year-old Dieruff High School student has filed a federal lawsuit claiming an Allentown police officer used excessive force when he shot her daughter in the groin with a stun gun during class dismissal in September. Victoria Geist says her daughter, Keshana Wilson, had her arms raised high to indicate she surrendered when officer Jason Ammary pointed a Taser at her on Sept. 29 outside the high school and fired, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court by attorney Richard J. Orloski. The suit claims Ammary fired the Taser directly at the teen's groin and he then filed retaliatory charges against the girl to justify using the Taser. The city is also named as a defendant for failure to control a rogue officer, says the suit, which seeks an unspecified amount of money. [HR][/HR][URL="http://www.themorningcall.com/services/alerts/mc-mobile-text-alerts-faq,0,7517587.htmlstory"]» [B]The latest on traffic, delays and road construction delivered to your mobile phone. Text [B]TRAFFIC to [B]52270! Message and data rates apply. Text [B]STOP TRAFFIC to cancel, text [B]HELP for help. Click for terms and conditions.[/B][/B][/B][/B][/B][/URL][HR][/HR] [B][B][B][B][B] According to the suit, use of the Taser came after the officer grabbed Wilson from behind without identifying himself and "violently" pushed her into the side of a parked vehicle. He placed his right forearm against her throat, choking her, the suit claims. Orloski says the city's surveillance cameras captured the incident and back up his client's claims. An attempt to get the video, which was introduced as evidence, was unsuccessful. Allentown police gave a different take on the events that led to the teen's being charged with aggravated assault on an officer, simple assault, riot, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and walking on the highway. During a juvenile hearing, the assault and riot charges were dismissed. Police said Dieruff had been having problems with students being disorderly during dismissal. On Sept. 29, a large group of students crossing E. Washington Street in the 800 block had slowed to the point of stopping traffic. According to a police report filed at the time: Police tried to get students to move along with verbal commands. Most listened, but some remained in the middle of the street, talking on phones, texting or just not moving. An officer approached the girl and two of her friends to get them to move along, but she began to curse, which was inciting the crowd. The officer went to arrest her for being disorderly, but she twisted away from him. She began to resist and the officer had to lean her against the trunk of a car to place cuffs on her. The girl turned back and elbowed the officer in the chin. The girl kept hitting the officer, so he backed up, un-holstered his Taser and fired at her. He reached down to get his cuffs, which fell during the struggle, and he placed her in custody. The girl was taken to the hospital to have the probes from the Taser removed. At the time, Assistant Chief Joseph Hanna said the officer was justified in using his Taser, according to the "use-of-force continuum." The continuum — the standard police use to gauge their use of force — states that after the officer's presence and verbal commands fail, he or she can restrain and control an active resister through non-lethal means, such as pepper spray, hands, baton or the Taser. Because the Dieruff teen was likely to injure herself or the officer, she was considered a mid-level assailant and an active resister, Hanna said at the time. Also, Hanna said that according to the state's municipal police officers training law, officers are trained to use the justified amount of force, not the least amount. The amount and type of force, he said, are dictated by the actions of the resister, not their age or gender. Because a lawsuit is now filed, Hanna said Monday he could not discuss the case and referred all questions to the city's solicitor. The solicitor did not return calls for comment on Monday.[/release] [/B][/B][/B][/B][/B][URL]http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/mc-allentown-dieruff-taser-lawsuit-20111212,0,127617.story[/URL] [video=youtube;gmiolvASh08]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmiolvASh08[/video] I'm sure there's no need for that taser

Since a taser is a nonlethal weapon it's getting abused a lot.

I really don't have much of an opinion on this. And the video isn't much of a help because, it shows him choking her and her elbowing him.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33739172]Since a taser is a nonlethal weapon it's getting abused a lot.[/QUOTE] It doesn't get abused, for the most part it is extremely effective rather then using physical force. Though I do admit some people are just lazy and end up using it just because. However I would rather be tased then have pressure points and armbars done. Once the taser stops that is it, it stops.

self-defense should apply to people even when they are being attacked by a police officer.

[QUOTE=thisispain;33739283]self-defense should apply to people even when they are being attacked by a police officer.[/QUOTE] Hard to fight off 500,000 volts.

[quote]Dieruff had been having problems with students being disorderly during dismissal[/quote] That's a fucking understatement. [editline]00[/editline] No where near as bad as William Allen, though.

-snap-

[QUOTE=thisispain;33739283]self-defense should apply to people even when they are being attacked by a police officer.[/QUOTE] Sure, if the police officer is [i]attacking[/i] the person, rather than trying to apprehend them. Self-defense won't fly if they try to sue him for tasering her, though.

[quote]he shot her daughter in the groin with a stun gun[/quote] This article has taken a very strange turn very quickly.

[QUOTE=thisispain;33739283]self-defense should apply to people even when they are being attacked by a police officer.[/QUOTE] legally it does several cases regarding a person injuring, sometimes killing a cop because of said cop's inappropriate handling of a situation have ended up in favor of the person the officer was apprehending.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2b-Zg31w6U&t=0m27s[/media]

good, fuck that guy too many officers are using tasers as an extremely painful and harmful substitute for being physically fit enough to do your fucking job, if you can't contain a teenage girl to make an arrest, you aren't meeting the requirements of your fucking job

The police officer's report looks accurate. You can see the girl fighting back until the officer withdraws his taser. "Mother fucker I will fight you like a bi- Oh sorry I didn't do anything wro-" Also, groin groin groin groin. Who cares where she was hit.

It shows when he points it at her she admits defeat, then he shoots.

[QUOTE=JinkoMK;33747738]The police officer's report looks accurate. You can see the girl fighting back until the officer withdraws his taser. "Mother fucker I will fight you like a bi- Oh sorry I didn't do anything wro-" Also, groin groin groin groin. Who cares where she was hit.[/QUOTE] Bullshit. If you're a grown man that's too fucking weak to take on a teenage girl and needs to resort to using a taser, you definitely are not fit to make that decision, and as such should lose your job. [editline]16th December 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=MR-X;33739282]It doesn't get abused, for the most part it is extremely effective rather then using physical force. Though I do admit some people are just lazy and end up using it just because. However I would rather be tased then have pressure points and armbars done. Once the taser stops that is it, it stops.[/QUOTE] And you run a severe risk of nerve/muscle damage as well as cardiac arrest. Versus a dislocated shoulder.

It's like they use the tazers because they are lazy. A male cop, probably several times stronger than a female teenager, and he can't even physically arrest her so he has to use the tazer? I would call that lazy.