Post by WaTcHeR on Apr 29, 2006 13:17:28 GMT -5
04/29/2006 - On the heels of the much talked about Christopher McCargo case, two men came forward with their stories about being stunned with a Taser while in the Bradley County jail.
Bryan Woodby, who's also listed in Bradley County Sheriff's Department files as Bryan Woods, said he was shocked with a Taser New Years Eve.
He said he and his girlfriend were passengers in a car driven by his mother and were stopped by deputies. She was charged with DUI, he with disorderly conduct.
Woodby said he was not combative or verbally abusive but was taken to the jail. He said once there he "blacked out" and could not explain what happened. When he awakened he found himself strapped onto an ambulance backboard. Woodby said when he got his hands free Lt. Micheal Cooper used a Taser and shocked him in the stomach.
Police reports show jailers found Woodby with a bloody face and it was assumed he hit his head on a wall. Reports show a jailer who's also certified in emergency medicine got the ambulance backboard and called EMS for help.
Woodby said when Cooper tried to stun him again he tried to push the Taser away, and was then shocked with another 50,000 volt blast of electricity two additional times on his testicles while his feet were strapped down.
He showed NewsChannel 9 graphic pictures taken at the hospital of the areas that were stunned with the Taser.
Bradley County Chief Deputy Bill Griffith said his officers' reports show Woodby was combative and abusive toward officers, and that the stunning was justified. He said Lt. Cooper acted properly according to department policy and did nothing wrong.
Jason Adams said he was stunned with a Taser February 12. That day he was arrested and charged with DUI and posession of drugs. He claims he was cooperative and never physically or verbally abused officers.
Adams said at the scene officers sprayed him in the face with pepper spray. When he came to the Bradley County jail he was stripped of his clothes and placed in a shower to rinse his face and eyes of the pepper spray.
Adams claims he had his hands cuffed behind his back and two jailers kept pushing him from side to side in the shower. He said when he turned around to look behind him he was thrown down to the floor and stunned with a Taser once on the spine and another time on his kidney.
Chief Deputy Griffith said officers' reports show Adams was combative and had to be stunned in order to bring him into compliance while in the shower.
Griffith also questioned the timing of the two men making their cases public just a few days before the May 2 primary election. Sheriff Dan Gilley is in a hotly contested race for re-election.
Griffith said he suspects that the Chattanooga attorney representing all the men recently tased, John Wolfe, is trying to influence the Bradley County sheriff's race.
John Wolfe said the timing is good because "people need to know what's going on in the sheriff's department."
Christopher McCargo remains in a coma after being stunned with a Taser two months ago in the Bradley County jail. Reports show he was brought there in an altered state of mind charged with public intoxication.
His mother, Eunice McCargo-Spears, said she is glad both Adams and Woodby are coming forward with their stories. She was present at the Bradley County Courthouse when Adams and Woodby told us their stories.
She said "something needs to be done about all these boys getting Tased."
Griffith said neither Adams nor Woodby were restrained while they were stunned.
Griffith added Tasers are rarely used in the jail and only in cases where people are combative and pose a threat to officers.
He said from January 2005 to February 2006 7,933 people were booked into the Bradley County jail, and Tasers were used to subdue inmates 16 times.
Bryan Woodby, who's also listed in Bradley County Sheriff's Department files as Bryan Woods, said he was shocked with a Taser New Years Eve.
He said he and his girlfriend were passengers in a car driven by his mother and were stopped by deputies. She was charged with DUI, he with disorderly conduct.
Woodby said he was not combative or verbally abusive but was taken to the jail. He said once there he "blacked out" and could not explain what happened. When he awakened he found himself strapped onto an ambulance backboard. Woodby said when he got his hands free Lt. Micheal Cooper used a Taser and shocked him in the stomach.
Police reports show jailers found Woodby with a bloody face and it was assumed he hit his head on a wall. Reports show a jailer who's also certified in emergency medicine got the ambulance backboard and called EMS for help.
Woodby said when Cooper tried to stun him again he tried to push the Taser away, and was then shocked with another 50,000 volt blast of electricity two additional times on his testicles while his feet were strapped down.
He showed NewsChannel 9 graphic pictures taken at the hospital of the areas that were stunned with the Taser.
Bradley County Chief Deputy Bill Griffith said his officers' reports show Woodby was combative and abusive toward officers, and that the stunning was justified. He said Lt. Cooper acted properly according to department policy and did nothing wrong.
Jason Adams said he was stunned with a Taser February 12. That day he was arrested and charged with DUI and posession of drugs. He claims he was cooperative and never physically or verbally abused officers.
Adams said at the scene officers sprayed him in the face with pepper spray. When he came to the Bradley County jail he was stripped of his clothes and placed in a shower to rinse his face and eyes of the pepper spray.
Adams claims he had his hands cuffed behind his back and two jailers kept pushing him from side to side in the shower. He said when he turned around to look behind him he was thrown down to the floor and stunned with a Taser once on the spine and another time on his kidney.
Chief Deputy Griffith said officers' reports show Adams was combative and had to be stunned in order to bring him into compliance while in the shower.
Griffith also questioned the timing of the two men making their cases public just a few days before the May 2 primary election. Sheriff Dan Gilley is in a hotly contested race for re-election.
Griffith said he suspects that the Chattanooga attorney representing all the men recently tased, John Wolfe, is trying to influence the Bradley County sheriff's race.
John Wolfe said the timing is good because "people need to know what's going on in the sheriff's department."
Christopher McCargo remains in a coma after being stunned with a Taser two months ago in the Bradley County jail. Reports show he was brought there in an altered state of mind charged with public intoxication.
His mother, Eunice McCargo-Spears, said she is glad both Adams and Woodby are coming forward with their stories. She was present at the Bradley County Courthouse when Adams and Woodby told us their stories.
She said "something needs to be done about all these boys getting Tased."
Griffith said neither Adams nor Woodby were restrained while they were stunned.
Griffith added Tasers are rarely used in the jail and only in cases where people are combative and pose a threat to officers.
He said from January 2005 to February 2006 7,933 people were booked into the Bradley County jail, and Tasers were used to subdue inmates 16 times.