Taser Lawsuit: Linda Hicks (Toledo, OH)

I was glad to see that a lawsuit has been filed against the City of Toledo, the Toledo Police Department and TPD Officer Diane Chandler for their involvement in the taser electrocution of 62-year old Linda Hicks.  Villagers may recall that Ms. Hicks was fatally shot by Officer Chandler on December 14, 2009 at Marria's Adult Family Home.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio by Charles Boyk, Esq. against the following parties: the City of Toledo (for violation of civil rights and wrongful death); the Toledo Police Department (for violation of civil rights and wrongful death); Officer Diane Chandler, in her individual capacity (for violation of civil rights, gross negligence, assault, battery and wrongful death); and Marria’s Adult Family Home (for negligence and wrongful death).

Ms. Hicks was, at the time of her death, a 5’2”, 62-year-old woman who suffered from schizophrenia and a heart condition that required a pacemaker. She was a resident at Marria’s Adult Family Home.  Police were summoned to that location because Ms. Hicks was reported to be agitated and holding a pair of craft scissors in her room.

Crisis police were requested, but Officer Chandler and another officer, who were not crisis police officers, responded to the scene. Disregarding their lack of proper training with crisis situations and with the mentally ill, Marria’s Adult Family Home allowed the officers to approach Ms. Hicks with weapons drawn.

When the officers arrived at her room, Ms. Hicks was laying facedown on her bed with her hands under her pillow. She was asked to show her hands, and when she did not comply the officers proceeded to Taser her twice (without regard to her pacemaker). After the second shock, Ms. Hicks got out of bed and approached the two officers with the craft scissors in her hand.

At this point, Officer Chandler and the other officer successfully exited the bedroom into the hallway. For a moment, both officers were in the hallway while Ms. Hicks was still in her room. The second officer descended down nearby stairs and exited the scene, while Officer Chandler chose to remain in the hallway. As Ms. Hicks approached Officer Chandler, the officer proceeded to shoot and kill Ms. Hicks.





The lawsuit claims that this sad situation was wholly avoidable. Ms. Hicks was not given her proper medication by Marria’s Adult Family Home; if she had received her medication the scenario could likely have been avoided. The home also allowed Ms. Hicks to have access to the scissors and allowed non-crisis police officers to attempt to diffuse the situation.

I think that it may take lawsuits like this one to get police departments to take more proactive approaches to taser training.  Perhaps if the police have to pay the steep costs of lawsuits they will think twice before using their taser guns for convenience rather than for protection against immediate danger.

After all, how dangerous could a 5'2'' elderly woman with a pair of scissors actually be to trained police officers?

Sam 'Joe the Plumber' Wurzelbacher Extends His 15 Minutes of Fame in Toledo OH

The ebb and flow of Republican politics. John McCain may be out of politics this year ... while the man he made famous, Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, is now an active member of Republican politics in Toledo OH. Wurzelbacher will be one of nearly 400 committee members who oversee the Republican Party in northwest Ohio's Lucas County. The group elects the county chairman and sets the party agenda.

Of course the man we call 'plumber' who isn't a plumber is now a weak 'politician'. The group he'll serve on meets only a few times a year to elect the county chairman and sets the party agenda. Wurzelbacher won the seat by a 38-24 vote.

He continues to milk his 15 minutes of fame. Villagers may not know ... but, Wurzelbacher wrote a book, speaks at conservative 'tea parties' and spent a few weeks as a war correspondent in the Gaza Strip.







Wurzelbacher is the kind of redneck white guy that conservatives and tea party loyalist love. This is the clown who once said,

"Illegal immigration? Put a fence up and start shooting."

I pity the fools in Toledo who elected this guy to be their leader!

New Order National Human Rights Organization Calls for Firing of Taser-Killing Cop Diane Chandler

Villagers will be happy to see that the taser-related killing of 62-year old Linda Hicks has not been entirely swept under the rug. A new civil rights group is calling for the termination the Toledo police officer, Diane Chandler, who fatally shot a mentally ill woman on Dec 14, 2009.

"We're not going to let this case go," Gerald Rose, founder and executive director of the Atlanta-based New Order National Human Rights Organization, said during a news conference yesterday.

Ms. Hicks was reported to be threatening others with scissors at the group home where she lived. After she refused to show her hands to two officers who attempted to subdue her with a Taser, she lunged at one of them with scissors. Officer Diane Chandler, 33, fired four shots, hitting Ms. Hicks in the head, chest, and abdomen.

Officer Chandler voluntarily entered a months-long program that has her shadowing police detectives and is temporarily reassigned from her patrol duties. Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre considers the case closed.

At a news conference yesterday at the home of an aunt of the slain woman, Mr. Rose announced that he will hold a march next month to protest Ms. Hicks' death. He was accompanied by members of the new Toledo chapter of his group.

Gerald Rose stopped short yesterday of alleging that race may have been a factor in Ms. Hicks' death. "We want to get this officer off the street. We want her to be fired," he said. "All police officers are not bad. We need police officers. But the bad ones, we have to get off the street."

I'm not thrilled that this new group is resorting to a protest march in this situation. I would prefer that 21st century problems create 21st century solutions ... and a protest march seems 50 years out of place.

What are your thoughts on the call for the Toledo Police Department to fire Officer Chandler?

Family Seeks Answers in Taser-Killing of Linda Hicks

Linda Hicks is the 62-year old mentally-ill woman killed by Toledo police officer Diane Chandler last month. Ms. Hicks was shot four times by a taser in 'drive stun' mode. A Toledo grand jury cleared Officer Chandler of murder indictment last week.

However, the family of Linda Hicks is not satisfied. The family hired a lawyer to get more answers in this taser-related killing.

I think that the police rely on tasers for convenience, rather than in situations of true danger. I think that these Toledo police officers shot first ... and asked questions later. I hope that the Hicks' family gets answers to their questions!




It remains a mystery to me why two trained police officers were not able subdue a 62-year old woman with a pacemaker without deadly force. She was trapped in a room with no firearms. Did the two police officers truly think that this old woman with a pair of scissors needed to be shot in the head twice to bring her down?

What say u?

Taser-Cop Diane Chandler Cleared for Fatal Shooting of Linda Hicks

A grand jury ruled that Toledo Police Officer Diane Chandler, who fatally shot Linda Hicks, will not be indicted on a murder charge. [SOURCE]

Chandler responded to a group home on Fernwood Dec. 14 after the home owner called police saying the 62-year-old Hicks was off her medication and acting uncontrollably.

Police say Hicks walked toward the officers with scissors raised and made threats. Chandler shot her in the head twice after a taser used by Officer Rebecca Kenney malfunctioned.

Taser Death: Linda Hicks (Toledo OH)

Toledo police officers Rebecca Kenney, 34, and Diane Chandler, 33, shot 62-year old Linda Hicks four times, twice in the head, with their taser gun. [SOURCE]

The taser gun was used in 'drive stun' mode. The taser, fired by Officer Chandler misfired, the barbs didn't shoot out, so Officer Chandler connected her taser directly to Linda Hicks ... this type of contact is known as 'drive stun' ... driving the taser gun into physical contact with the intended subject.

Linda Hicks died immediately.

One would think that this elderly woman must have been robbing a bank or running away from a bicycle traffic stop or something truly evil. One would be wrong. Linda Hicks was a mentally-ill woman laying down in bed when the police arrived. Now she's dead.

The woman who cares for mentally ill people in her home, Tanya Murphy, called 911 earlier in the evening when Mrs. Hicks became agitated. Murphy told the 911 operator that Ms. Hicks had a history of schizophrenia and was not taking her medication. Ms. Murphy had difficulty discussing the incident yesterday and would only say: "She came at me with the scissors."

Gloria Wright, who went to school with Ms. Hicks, said she believed the woman could have been subdued without lethal force. "They could have shut the door," she said. "They could have shot her in the leg."

Toledo police chief Mike Navarre shared the following description of the taser-related killing:

"They were told basically that this Linda Hicks had not been taking her medication, had been threatening people, was acting up, was agitated, and, we are told, she had this pair of scissors in her hand that she was threatening people with, so they went upstairs," the chief said.

"The bedroom door was shut; they knocked; they opened the door; Linda Hicks was laying on the bed; she had her hands under a pillow - appeared that she may have something in her hands."

Ms. Hicks refused to comply when the two female officers ordered her to show her hands. They then tried to subdue Ms. Hicks with a Taser.

The chief said Ms. Hicks then got up from the bed with the scissors in her left hand, became very agitated, and told the officers, "'I'm going to kill you or you are going to have to kill me.'"

"Officer Chandler and Officer Kenney both indicated that Linda Hicks advanced toward Officer Chandler with scissors in a raised position … and Officer Chandler fired four times," Chief Navarre said.

Both officers are off duty and will be on administrative leave. The chief said the investigation would take three to four weeks.

A mentally-ill 62-year old woman is in the morgue today. Something is seriously wrong when the police use their taser guns instead of commonsense. That is my initial thought. What say u?