The widow of a Baltimore, Maryland man that died after being assaulted by cops and repeatedly stunned with Taser guns is hoping that a just-filed lawsuit will bring justice following the slaying of her husband.
Linda Johnson is seeking more than $10 million in punitive damages stemming from a May 27, 2010 run in with the law that left her husband, a 48-year-old, dead.
Carl D. Johnson was driving home from a Bible study class two years ago, his wife says, when he suffered a severe diabetic reaction. Several 911 calls were placed by automobile drivers who witnessed Johnson drive erratically on the shoulder of a Baltimore-area highway after he allegedly went into shock. When cops made it to the scene to investigate the incident, though, things took a turn for the worst.
Responding officers say Mr. Johnson did not cooperate with them as they approached his vehicle, but his wife writes in a court filing that things were different. According to the complaint, State Trooper Davon Parker arrived on the scene first, tapped on the window or Mr. Johnson’s car and then blasted the man with a burst of pepper-spray.
Still suffering from the diabetes-related episode, Johnson exited the car only to be clubbed at least once in the knee. Police accounts attest that Johnson tried to fight off the officers, but the just-filed lawsuit insists that a second officer then arrived and assaulted Johnson similarly with his own nightstick.
According to the complaint, Baltimore County Police Officer Nicholas Wolferman then arrived, struck Johnson “at least three times” with his baton and then, along with another officer, “grabbed Mr. Johnson and threw him over the guardrail.”
His widow says she believes five cops were present when Officer Andrew O’Neill fired his Taser gun at Johnson twice. Then, reads the complaint, another officer punched the man in the face before he was handcuffed.
By the end of altercation, 52 individuals in all were believed to be dispatched to the scene. More than a dozen were on the scene, says Mrs. Johnson, when cops removed the man’s wallet — which included a medical alert cart explaining his condition — as he laid dying on the ground.
Johnson then went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead an hour later. Mrs. Johnson is charging the Maryland State Police, Baltimore County Police, departmental captains and six officers alleged to have been involved in the beating. She says that the defendants should be reprimanded for wrongful death, loss of consortium, false imprisonment, false arrest, battery, gross negligence and other charges.
Amnesty International reports that Taser guns have been a factor in the deaths of at least 500 people in only the last decade. Johnson’s death marked the second time in just three years that a casualty was linked to a Taser gun used by a Baltimore County Police officer.
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