Was it illegal for the cops to do this to my friend's sister's mom or did she deserve this or were both wrong?

Question

My friend & her sister have the same dad but different moms. My friend's sister's mom had a warrant out for her arrest for drugs a few yrs. back. Maybe about 7 or 8 yrs. ago. She's physically handicapped now because of this:

She ran from the cops, & when they physically caught her, the police officer pushed her onto the ground with ALL his weight (he was obese) & knocked her unconscious & broke her arm or something like that.

Now, she has slurred speech, & 1 of her hands is drawn up & stiff. She can't move it. That's permanent. She's handicapped now.

Despite all of this, did she have a right to sue him?

Answer 1

I highly doubt that the officer was "really fat" since he was able to catch up with her. This is a very simple issue- your friend's sister's mother had a warrant for her arrest, she ran from the officer attempting to effect said warrant, she was legaly pursued & tackled by said officer to prevent her escape. Had she not run the officer would not have had to chase or restrain her. She forced the situation, so any reasonable injuries (those listed fall with-in that umbrella) recived are her own fault.

Problem Child it's not as simple as fleeing felon = shoot. Check out this link for more info-

http://patc.com/weeklyarticles/escaping_...

"Supreme Court in Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985). While noting that ‘the use of deadly force to prevent the escape of all felony suspects, whatever the circumstances, is constitutionally unreasonable,"

-David

Answer 2

I'd say yes.

Answer 3

Yes, she had a right to sue him.

He did't have to use such force

Answer 4

first off, she ran from the police. Anything that happened after that is 110% her fault.

When running from the police, they can use as much force as needed to stop you. Its not a game of "tag".

Did you know in many states the Police can shoot a fleeing felon? Thats right, they can stand there, aim and shoot a fleing felon right in the back. Perfectly legal.

Second, what we have here is a account of what happened by someone who wasn't there told to someone else who wasn't there. Other than the fact the Police where involved, not much else is probably factual, although that will not stop certain ignorant posters from answering like it is.

You have the right to sue anyone, including a ham sandwhich. All you need is a filing fee. My guese is she did and lost.

The real lesson here is if she will do it again, which is doubtful. In her current condition, I am sure she is not out doing crimes and if she is, she probably isn't running away and more.

Answer 5

I'd say ---- she got charged, then she didn't front then she got warrants cause she didn't finalise her court actions----then when she saw the cops she ran???? oops she got splat by a cop ---- unlucky.  my advice, don't do crime, go to court, dont run from the cops...... watch this educational video it may help in the future

Answer 6

Shooting would be excessive force.  If a suspect runs, I know I'd have no problem tackling the person to subdue them.  If she hadn't run, she wouldn't have the problems you mentioned.  Sad, but true. :-(

Answer 7

From your description it does not sound like the police officer meant to physically harm her he was just trying to catch a criminal with a warrant by subdueing her so that they could cuff her and arrest her, which is a lot easier to do when someone is on the ground than when they are standing up.  The police are allowed to use reasonable force to arrest someone, in this case you could argue that is was reasonable for him to try and knock her down to stop her from getting away.... he just happened to fall with her and unfortunately land on her. Now if he had knocked her down and then punched and kicked her when she was down on the ground then you might have a case  and could sue....  but from your description I don't think you would get anywhere - but I could be wrong!

Bottom line is, SHE broke the law, SHE didn't give herself up and so a warrant was issued and SHE ran from the police when they attempted to enforce the warrant. If SHE hadn't done any one of those things SHE wouldn't be in the situation she is in now. The police officer was just there trying to do his job, get criminals off the street. I am just sorry that she was hurt in the process.

Answer 8

No, because she was evading police and they can use a reasonable amount of physical force to subdue the suspect so of course he's going to use "all his weight." he doesn't know if she's got a weapon that can kill him or not so it has to be quick and he has to get the upper hand quickly. There's no way courts would say, "Yeah, it's the officer's fault for being fat. He should gotten someone lighter to physically take her down."

On a side note, I'm surprised the obese cop actually caught up to her...

Answer 9

Don't run from the police.  They aren't going to baby you!

Answer 10

Yes, that was excessive force.  See where drugs will get you?

Answer 11

she can sue him, but she won't win...

it happened because she was commiting a crime...evading a police officer...

there is no way they will fault an officer of the law who was trying to arrest her for a drug warrant.

they will say that he used reasonable force in order to detain her BECAUSE she was trying to flee...

if she hadn't tried to run, then the cop wouldn't have had to tackle her...

she is entirely at fault here...she is the criminal...she needs to understand that the reason she is handicapped is because she took drugs and then tried to evade arrest...she needs to take responsibility for those choices...and teach her daughter a hard lesson about breaking the law instead of trying to make the cops (who were only doing their jobs) the bad guys...

Answer 12

she could have, but with 7 or 8 years passing i doubt the judge will take it seriously.

Answer 13

Two points

1. why did she run from police

2.If he was so obese how the h**l did he catch her.

No she shouldnt be able to sue.If you try to evade capture any injury you bring on yourself.Try being responsible for your own actions and stop trying to blame others.

Answer 14

There's nothing unreasonable about tackling someone who's running from the police.