Taser Lawsuit: Gregory Rold (Salem, OR)

Felisa Rold is the mother of a schizophrenic son killed by Salem police officers Eric Brown, Daron Mumey, Jacob Pratt and Adam Waite. Rold's mother is filing a lawsuit in which she demands punitive damages for wrongful death, negligence and civil rights violations. [SOURCE]

Mrs. Rold indicates that the Salem police officers came to her house and used their taser guns multiple times in May 2009. She says her son had been eating lunch with her and his brother, and that he did not resist arrest until they shot him with the Taser.

Rold's attorney says Officers Pratt and Mumey came to her apartment on May 23, 2009 in response to the apartment manager's complaint about her schizophrenic son's presence. The manager had previously told Felisa Rold that he didn't want her son around, said the attorney, Todd Peterson.

"He had a right to be there," Peterson said. "There was no citation or court order or anything (barring his presence)."

Peterson said Gregory Rold had just come from a family celebration and stopped by his mother's house to pick up some clothes.

"He was just sitting there by the window, smoking a cigarette, when he saw the police outside," Peterson said.

Gregory let them in, and the police told him that he was under arrest, according to the federal complaint. English was Rold's second language. He was "slow to respond" Peterson said, because of his mental illness and because he was translating for his 75-year-old mother, who speaks little English.

Felicia Rold claims Officer Mumey Tasered her son without warning, and shot him 16 more times with the stun gun in the next 4 minutes. Witnesses said the police used their Tasers "almost immediately" after entering the apartment, according to Peterson.

The police told Rold's mother and brother to go into another room, "or else they would get Tased too," Peterson said.

Rold says her son did not resist arrest until police had tasered him more than once. When Officers Brown and Waite arrived, 17 minutes after Mumey and Pratt had stopped shocking Rold, Gregory Rold was leaning on a table, "not actively offering resistance," according to the complaint.

Rold tried to run into another room in the apartment, and Brown allegedly tasered him with 50,000 volts at least two more times. Then police repeatedly punched him in his side and hit him with a baton to the knees before pushing him onto his belly and handcuffing his arms behind his back, Rold's mother says.

Rold weighed between 300 and 350 pounds. Police knelt on his back, crushing his lungs and trachea and suffocating him to death, according to the complaint.

"He was dead within 25 minutes of (the officers') arrival," Peterson said. "They turned something into a real tragedy that could have ended in a far different way."

What is your take on this case? Do you think that Mrs. Rold will have a chance with her lawsuit?

Public Sentiment Turns Against Police in Oregon Taser Killing

I noticed that recent press accounts of the taser-related death of 37-year old Gregory Rold are beginning to question the use of force by the Salem police officers.

One recent article contained the following information:

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Several residents of the Carriage Apartments criticized police Tuesday for using what they described as excessive force.

"He was a creep, but does that mean you get killed like a dog? They should have hogtied him, detained him and taken him away," Carita Mendez said.

Mendez lives in a first-floor unit at the Carriage Apartments, directly below the unit where Rold fought with police as his mother looked on. Neighbors said she screamed out the window, pleading for help and saying that police were killing her son.

Mendez said the violence left many residents traumatized.

"We've been crying, us girls have," she said. "It's too much for us. It's sad."

Liz Patterson, co-manager of the complex, described the altercation between Rold and police officers as a tragedy.

"It's a tragedy for the family. It's a tragedy for the police department. It's a tragedy for everybody involved," she said.

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The four officers involved were placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in cases involving a fatality and use of physical force. One of the officers, Jacob Pratt, was injured during the fight, and was treated at Silverton Hospital. The other three are Eric Brown, Adam Waite, and Cpl. Darron Mumey.

Villagers, I remain convinced that these four officers did not abide by the use of force continuum in this case. The penalty for being a creep or a trespasser is not the death penalty. Something went horribly wrong in Salem OR and as a result Gregory Rold became the 20th person this year to die as a result of taser electrocution in America.

When will the Congressional Black Caucus join over 600 people to demand congressional hearings on this rising incidence of taser torture in America?

Gregory Rold Dies After Police Shoot Him With a Taser

I'm sad to report that we have another taser-related death in America. This is the 20th taser-related death at the hands of police officers since the beginning of the calendar year. Here is the initial report:

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Salem man dies after police shoot him with a Taser
by Stephen Beaven, The Oregonian

A purported trespasser died Saturday night after he was shot with a Taser as Salem police officers tried to arrest him.

Gregory Rold, 37, died at Salem Hospital shortly before 9:30 p.m., police said today.

Officers were called to an apartment on Royvonne Avenue SE in Salem about 7:38 p.m. following a report of a man who was trespassing. They encountered Rold, who resisted arrest, prompting officers to shoot him with a Taser and beat him with their batons. After he was handcuffed, officers said Rold was unconscious.

Four officers were placed on administrative leave while Rold's death is being investigated.

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It is interesting to note that Gregory Rold cannot contradict the 'resisting arrest' or 'trespassing' charges. He's dead. I don't know all aspects of the law ... but, I'm fairly comfortable that we don't have the death penalty in America for those that 'resist arrest or trespass. Four police officers couldn't control this guy with something less than deadly force? The only response that they could come up with was extra-judicial death penalty?

Villagers, we are 20 weeks into the calendar year and we already have 20 taser-related deaths in America. Isn't it time for you to sign our online petition calling for congressional hearings on this taser torture?

What say u?