FL - Tasered by cop while handcuffed, woman strikes head on pavement; now brain dead

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Tasering her while she was handcuffed and couldnt break her fall was grossly irresponsible.
I worked seven years as a correctional officer and ive been a psyche tech at a state hospital for five.
One thing that is important is to not escalate the violence in a confrontation.
Often easier said then done true,but whats the worst that could have happened?
There was no way she had a chance of actually escaping...let her run around with her hands behind her back,shed get tired of that pretty quick.
Its easy to lose your temper in those situations but thats the difference that sets the profesionals apart.
You dont have the luxury of letting your anger or annoyance guide your actions.
I dont think a cop has anymore right to plead "Look what They made me do!...Its not MY fault!" then an abusive husband does.
 
I am trying to find the actual proof of it but there are reports that she had freed one hand from the handcuffs and/or that she had manipulated the cuffs to the front when they had been behind her back originally.

ETA: upon watching the video frame by frame, it appears the cuffs are in the front, not the back as some people have thought they were.
 
http://privateinvesigations.blogspot.com/2012/02/danielle-maudsley-left-brain-dead-after.html

"While she sat in the back of his cruiser, Maudsley removed her right hand from the handcuffs, the report said. When Cole opened the door to take her out, she told him, "I took this off."

Maudsley was placed back in handcuffs and Cole took her into the substation, according to the report. As he worked on paperwork in a conference room, he sensed that Maudsley was moving, turned, and saw her at the main exit. He asked where she was going and got up from his seat before she ran out the door.

In an interview with investigators, Cole said he saw Maudsley turning in the direction of U.S. 19 after she exited the substation.

"If she makes it there, you know, there's no winning," the report quoted him saying. "I can't let her get out and get run over," he later said.

Cole, who at 267 pounds weighs about three times as much as Maudsley, was concerned that one or both of them would be injured if he tackled her. So he went for his Taser.

He could not warn Maudsley because of the immediacy of the situation, the report said. After Maudsley fell, Cole saw blood on the ground and summoned emergency personnel."
 
http://privateinvesigations.blogspot.com/2012/02/danielle-maudsley-left-brain-dead-after.html

"While she sat in the back of his cruiser, Maudsley removed her right hand from the handcuffs, the report said. When Cole opened the door to take her out, she told him, "I took this off."

Maudsley was placed back in handcuffs and Cole took her into the substation, according to the report. As he worked on paperwork in a conference room, he sensed that Maudsley was moving, turned, and saw her at the main exit. He asked where she was going and got up from his seat before she ran out the door.

In an interview with investigators, Cole said he saw Maudsley turning in the direction of U.S. 19 after she exited the substation.

"If she makes it there, you know, there's no winning," the report quoted him saying. "I can't let her get out and get run over," he later said.

Cole, who at 267 pounds weighs about three times as much as Maudsley, was concerned that one or both of them would be injured if he tackled her. So he went for his Taser.

He could not warn Maudsley because of the immediacy of the situation, the report said. After Maudsley fell, Cole saw blood on the ground and summoned emergency personnel."

BBM

It was stated on JVM's show that when the officer re-cuffed Maudsley, her hands were in front rather than behind her back.
 
I can't see any reason to taser someone that is already handcuffed. At that point, it wasn't about catching her, or protecting himself, it was about hurting her. If he had grabbed her, he could have hurt her. But he knew if he tasered her, electricity going into a body hurts, he knew she would fall and with no way to catch herself there was no other outcome than she would be hurt.
 
IMO, when a two people are running in the same direction, and one is trying to catch the other one, it is very difficult to do that without losing balance and falling.

This was not two people standing still, where basically the one would reach out and just grasp the arm of the other one.

The momentum involved with this officer, who was quite a bit larger than the woman, moving at a greater speed than this woman and then grabbing her from behind, IMO, is not as cut and dried as some seem to think it is. The odds of this officer being able to catch this woman, who apparently was attempting to not be caught, and them both not falling down, IMO, are pretty high.

Also, IMO, this woman having her hands cuffed in front of her does not say to me she had no way to break her fall.

This officer had to make this decision in the moment. He wasn't able to freeze time and sit back and view video and determine the best course of action.

IMO, had he chased her down and caught her, the chances are she would have been just as injured as she was from the tazing.

IMO, there is a time and a place. If this woman felt she was wrongly accused, or didn't belong in a police station in cuffs, then she should have contacted an attorney and fought her arrest.

While police are responsible for the people they arrest, it's up to a point. If a person is arrested and put into a cell, they can choose to smash their head against a wall. LE would then be required to jump up and stop them, but they can't be held responsible for the initial injuries. Otherwise, everyone arrested would have to be put into straight jackets in padded rooms.

All MOO, this woman chose to put herself in a position to commit the crimes that led to her arrest and take the drugs that IMO impaired her reasoning to the point she felt it was a good idea to try to escape from a police station. IMO, the officer had no other reasonable option than to taser her.
 
I have to agree with this line of thought. I have argued it both ways in my head, but ultimately, she was being confined for doing something against the law and then chose to make an "escape" from the consequences of that wrong. I don't see from the videos where him grabbing at her would have changed the outcome: i.e. her falling and unable to protect herself from that fall.
 
Our local news is emphasizing she was running towards the main street (U.S. 19) and he could not let her make it there for fear of causing multiple accidents.
 
If only some of us had to walk in LE shoes a day. We don't hear of cases they handle to protect us unless the outcome is this.

My son is LE and you should really hear what these officers go through dealing with these type of people.
 
I respect everyone her at WS so i hate to see anyone here fighting (for lack of a better word) with each other. Usually we are united against an injustice where it is clear who the victim is and who is the guilty party.

I don't want to get into a debate with anyone over our differing opinions. I agree to disagree and respect your opinions and hope that no one feels the need to attack me for mine. So this is my opinion which you are free to disagree with.

I don't like police brutality at all but I just don't see that the officer is at fault here. He had no intent to injure her or cause her harm. He was doing his job to the best of his ability. She had no problem hurting others and going on her merry way to the next victim.

The cop didnt have the luxury of taking time to consider this and that before reacting. She clearly intended to flee and continue her disregard for laws and authority and he had to react the best way he knew how to minimize the danger. She could have run out in front of a car and killed herself or caused a wreck that killed innocent people. She had ZERO regard for the lives of others.

She had a history of resisting authority so he was not dealing with a cooperative person and he knew it. She didnt consider anyone but herself when she repeatedly got into accidents and was lucky she hadn't killed anyone yet.

The cop was dealing with a suspect who had an extensive record including NO drivers license, had been in TWO different hit an runs earlier that day, had a prior record including car theft and getting in an accident while driving that car a few months earlier and "two charges of resisting or obstructing police and one charge of battering a detention staff member". On the day she was tazed she had cocaine and oxycontin in her system.

So she had a history of evading arrest and resisting authority. She had a history of causing accidents and fleeing. She obviously had no respect for the law or other people's lives. She was bound to kill someone sooner or later because it is obvious she wasn't going to stop driving. She was clearly a danger to the public and had no intention of changing her ways. It could only escalate.

I'm sorry she was so injured and is most likely brain dead but these are the unfortunate result of her repeatedly bad choices.

Had she not stolen the car, she wouldn't be in this situation.
Had she not fled the scene of the 1st accident she wouldn't be in this situation.
Had she not fled the scene of the 2nd accident, she wouldn't be in this situation.
Had she not tried to escape while in handcuff, this would not have happened.

To me it is clear that she holds a great deal of responsibility what happened. It seemed she was intent on continuing her ways of law breaking and driving and wrecking until she killed someone or was stopped.

I'm sorry her life was destroyed but she had been on the course of self destruction long before the cop used the tazer. I consider it a blessing that she didnt kill or maim any innocent people in the process. Some one was bound to get hurt had she been allowed to continue. She caused the events that caused her devastating injuries and no one else is to blame.

This is my opinion only and I fully respect your right to see things differently.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-brain-dead-Tasered-trying-escape-police.html

http://www.tampabay.com/news/public...oman-arrested-by-fhp-wound-up-in-coma/1194417


Well said!!!

What happened to personal responsibility and accountability??? I feel sorry for the girls parents, if they tried to teach her personal responsibility and accountability.

She is a grown woman and had, had enough run-ins with the police to know exactly what she was doing and how she was behaving. She is not an errant child.

JMO.
 
She didn't die because of the shock from the taser. She is brain dead because she hit her head. If he tried to grab her while she was running she still could have fallen and injured her head, and then people would be blaming him for grabbing her. He is much larger than her so clearly she could have been injured if he tried to grab her. He probably did what he believed was the safest thing to stop her.
 
I can't see any reason to taser someone that is already handcuffed. At that point, it wasn't about catching her, or protecting himself, it was about hurting her. If he had grabbed her, he could have hurt her. But he knew if he tasered her, electricity going into a body hurts, he knew she would fall and with no way to catch herself there was no other outcome than she would be hurt.

What about if they are running away from you, and are younger and smaller and will probably be able to outrun you? And they are heading for a busy highway and they are drunk and stoned on pills and have already caused two hit and run accidents in a stolen car? It seems to me that thjose facts outweigh the handcuff argument.

Tasers only hurt for a second, and when someone is very drunk/high they often do not feel it at all.

Tasered people do not always fall. Often they keep running or they crouch down or sit down. Sometimes they fall, but they do not always get hurt in the fall.

In 10 yrs of police work this is only the second time he used his taser.
 
Tasering her while she was handcuffed and couldnt break her fall was grossly irresponsible.
I worked seven years as a correctional officer and ive been a psyche tech at a state hospital for five.
One thing that is important is to not escalate the violence in a confrontation.
Often easier said then done true,but whats the worst that could have happened?
There was no way she had a chance of actually escaping...let her run around with her hands behind her back,shed get tired of that pretty quick.
Its easy to lose your temper in those situations but thats the difference that sets the profesionals apart.
You dont have the luxury of letting your anger or annoyance guide your actions.
I dont think a cop has anymore right to plead "Look what They made me do!...Its not MY fault!" then an abusive husband does.

Except she could have run into the busy road and cause multiple accidents. And then people would be blaming the cop for not stopping her and allowing her to run into the busy road.
 
I personally think it was excessive force.


JMO
 
hi everyone,
i think if he tackled her and hurt her, people would complain. if he let her run into traffic and she got hit or caused an accident, people would complain. thats how i see it.
having said that, maybe he couldnt physically stop her for some reason we arent aware of, like he has bad a knee or a bad back?
also, and this is what i wanted to point out, i worked EMS for 5 years, and there are some people you just dont want to touch. it was not uncommon to arrive at a scene to find LE not assisting a patient in obvious distress because they didnt want to "catch AIDS" (this was especially true of older officers). this woman was clearly an addict, so maybe he didnt want to risk getting scratched/spit on/splattered with her blood if he grabbed her.
MOO
 
This story just sicked me when I saw the video. To hear the poor girl moan and cry that she couldn't get up was just heartbreaking. But, she is equally at fault for running away and not stopping. By the way, she had slipped out of her handcuffs and so wasn't handcuffed.
 
What sort of policing genius was in play that made it possible a person under arrest even could walk out of the door?
 
My father has been LE for 17 years and has had 2 very serious shoulder injuries from wrestling with cuffed suspects. Injuries that have caused months of time off and physical therapy. Just because she was cuffed does not mean she could not have caused him harm. I fully support LE's actions on this case. MOO
 
I am very sorry about your father's shoulder injuries. But I am even more sorry about a woman who is lying brain dead in a coma. If it was a choice between a police officer with shoulder injuries, and a brain dead woman, I know which I would choose.
 
Well it can also be said if she wouldn't have tried to escape while in custody she wouldn't have been tased fallen and hit her head. :twocents:
 

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