Can 51 LEOs Kill 1 Diabetic Shock Victim? Nope - It Takes 52!

[BluesStringer]

Dear Lord, protect us from our protectors, please. Amen.

These stories make me sick. Literally. The following story chronicles the events that led to the death of a diabetic man whose only crime was crashing his car during a diabetic reaction on the way home from Bible study. It took 52 of the Baltimore area's finest to finally subdue the nearly unconscious man, and the method of subduing? Death!

Courthouse News Service

By ROBERT KAHN

BALTIMORE (CN) - When an architect crashed his car while suffering a diabetic reaction on the way home from Bible study class, state and county police pepper sprayed him in the face and clubbed and Tasered him to death, his wife claims in court.

Linda Johnson sued the Maryland State Police, Baltimore County Police, their top commanders and six officers who allegedly beat and Tasered to death Carl D. Johnson on May 27, 2010.

Johnson suffered a diabetic attack sometime after 8:15 p.m. that night, after calling a friend to tell him he was leaving his Bible class, according to the complaint in Baltimore County Court.

He suffered a diabetic attack, crashed on the I-795, and his car came to rest against the guardrail in the median near the merger with I-695.

According to the complaint, when State Trooper Davon Parker arrived and tapped on the window, and Johnson managed to lower the window, Parker pepper sprayed him in the face.

Johnson then got out of his car and Parker clubbed him at least once in the knee. Defendant Officer Loss (fnu) then arrived and whacked Johnson at least twice with his club, the complaint states.

Baltimore County Police Officer Nicholas Wolferman then arrived, whacked Johnson "at least three times" with his own baton, then he and Officer Loss "grabbed Mr. Johnson and threw him over the guardrail," Johnson's widow says.

She claims the very first officer on the scene knew or should have known that her husband was suffering from a medical problem.

Nonetheless, after throwing him over the guardrail, the cops applied pressure points to his ears and armpits, she says. Three more cops arrived, including Baltimore County Officer Andrew O'Neill, who Tasered Johnson twice. Officer Loss then punched him in the face and the six officers managed to handcuff him, the widow says.

Eight more cops arrived, and someone took his wallet, which included a medical alert card about his diabetes. Nonetheless, the cops forcibly held him down, though he was not resisting, and was handcuffed, his wife says.

"Upon information and belief, there were approximately 52 individuals that responded to the scene," according to the complaint.

The widow claims Johnson was Tasered at least three times, while he was lying on his back, helpless, surrounded by police. He became "motionless and speechless" and was pronounced dead within an hour of cardiac arrest.

He was the 10th person to die since 2004 after being subjected to police electroshock in Maryland, the Baltimore Sun reported in a story about Johnson's death.

Linda Johnson seeks more than $10 million in punitive damages for wrongful death, loss of consortium, false imprisonment, false arrest, battery, gross negligence and other charges. She is represented by Mark Millstein and David Silbiger, both of Baltimore.

Here is a .pdf of the filing. It's a civil suit. No criminal charges are pending against anyone that I can find.

I just did a search on "police disciplined for death of Carl Johnson" and didn't find one single report of any discipline being dispensed against any of the LEOs involved.

I wouldn't call 911 if my life depended on it, because my life just may be the price I pay for needing and/or asking for help.

Blues

 

[rdm6680]

I hate the news. What the Hell does bible class have to do with it? Stupid

 

[Tucker's Mom]

What an ordeal!!! When you call 911, either they asked you the wrong questions, give you the wrong advice and you're dead before someone can rescue you from your predicament. Like yesterday's news from Alaska, the guy called 911 because he was attacked by a bear and was bleeding. He repeatedly told the operator he is bleeding and he is up on a tree as high as he can get...the operator kept asking him if he needed an ambulance. Well...duh! the guy was bleeding...it took 2 hours before he was rescued. I wonder where they get these 911 operator??? Pretty much the same as the TSA employees, huh??? No qualifications needed. No common sense needed either. Just come in a answer the phone. Wow!!

 

[MI .45]

This type of thing seems to becoming more and more common. I don't know if it's subliminal rebellion against the stresses of a profession that principally deals with scum or if the police are feeling more and more confident in their ability to brutalize the public and get away with it. When was the last time that bad police officers were truly punished - the Danzinger Bridge affair in New Orleans...??? Generally, if a cop is disciplined with dismissal, he/she is then picked up by some other department where that individual becomes someone elses problem.

I'm from a generation where a police officer is considered a friend - someone who helps and cares. I'm certain that many LEO's can be counted on to act in that way. But, when 52 policemen respond to a scene involving no violence, no weapon, and no resistance (at least from the story above) and not one of them steps in to mitigate what is transpiring (again, according to the story). When the code of silence from the blue line transcends simple humanity... well, something is dreadfully wrong!

 

[BluesStringer]

What an ordeal!!! When you call 911, either they asked you the wrong questions, give you the wrong advice and you're dead before someone can rescue you from your predicament. Like yesterday's news from Alaska, the guy called 911 because he was attacked by a bear and was bleeding. He repeatedly told the operator he is bleeding and he is up on a tree as high as he can get...the operator kept asking him if he needed an ambulance. Well...duh! the guy was bleeding...it took 2 hours before he was rescued. I wonder where they get these 911 operator??? Pretty much the same as the TSA employees, huh??? No qualifications needed. No common sense needed either. Just come in a answer the phone. Wow!!

Well, my last parting shot in the OP may have been misleading. Mr. Johnson's case had nothing to do with a 911 call. According to the filing affidavit, the call for police came from a paramedic who apparently just happened upon the scene of the car accident. She called for back-up via radio because Mr. Johnson was non-responsive to her vocal inquiries, and she didn't know if he was hurt, drunk, on drugs or any combination thereof. That is all understandable. But reading through the affidavit from that point on is like reading through a script for a horror movie once the cops showed up.

My only point in my parting shot is that I will never voluntarily involve cops in my life in any official capacity. The reference to not calling 911 was just a shorthand way of saying that, but this particular case was not a failure of the 911 system, just a failure of humanity and government's ability to screen out animals who disguise themselves as protectors.

Blues

 

[MI .45]

I hate the news. What the Hell does bible class have to do with it? Stupid

Most any news report has some type of background on the victims previous whereabouts. What's wrong with stating that he was returning from a Bible study? Wouldn't you want to know if he was coming from a "New Black Panthers" meeting?

 

[Deserteagle]

My only point in my parting shot is that I will never voluntarily involve cops in my life in any official capacity. The reference to not calling 911 was just a shorthand way of saying that, but this particular case was not a failure of the 911 system, just a failure of humanity and government's ability to screen out animals who disguise themselves as protectors.

Blues

I'm going to bet you would gladly involve the police in your life for numerous reasons. If your car gets stolen, are you fortunate enough to go buy a new one with change in your pocket and forget the stolen one? Or will you call the police? Or what about if a loved one was murdered. Would you take up the investigation yourself?

You can hate cops all you want until you need them

 

[Nightmare45]

Sounds like 52 copy murdered this man.

 

[eagleeyes]

seems irrelevant in this case as to where he was coming or going to imo but it is the press' way of advertising christianity imo and perhaps using it to tug on the emotions of readers.....
too bad the paramedic didn't spend a bit more time with that poor fellow try to determine what kind of help he needed and call an ambulance as well 911
preconceived fear based actions usually wind up bad outcome
cops need to chill out learn to use their head to make reasonable decisions or at least more accurate assessments and be held accountable for negligence and use of obsessive force imo

 

[BluesStringer]

I'm going to bet you would gladly involve the police in your life for numerous reasons. If your car gets stolen, are you fortunate enough to go buy a new one with change in your pocket and forget the stolen one? Or will you call the police?

Nope, not that fortunate. Neither am I fortunate enough to have the ability to buy an insurance policy that doesn't require a police report if/when my car is stolen, so it's a moot point. Yes, I will give a report, yes I will involve the police, but it will neither be "gladly" nor voluntary. If I want to collect on my insurance policy, I will involuntarily have to involve the police.

Or what about if a loved one was murdered. Would you take up the investigation yourself?

I have one person in my family; my wife. I have one BIL and a few cousins spread throughout the country, but none close enough to me that I would have anything to do with their murder investigations. So actually, you bring up an interesting point that I have thought about quite a bit. If my wife is murdered, as with nearly all spouses of murder victims, I will be the first one they take a hard look at, unless, of course, I'm "fortunate" enough to have a bullet-proof (no pun intended) alibi. This is the example I think of most when I think about inviting cops into my life as a matter of fact. Since there's only the two of us, no kids, and none of our family members have been involved in our lives other than by phone for the last 20 years, I would have no one to stand up and say how deeply in love my wife and I were, or how I catered to her every whim, or how protective I was of her. Because of all those things, I'd be an emotional wreck, and who knows? I might break my cardinal rule of not talking to the cops in my weakened state, and say something innocuous that they twist and contort into a suspicious statement, and we all know where it goes from there.

I know you didn't ask specifically about my wife, but she's the only loved one in my life, and thus the only one I can relate the question to. Yeah, I'd call the cops, and I'd cooperate with the investigation, but I'd damn well hope I could hold it together enough to practice copious amounts of caution when they're questioning me.

You can hate cops all you want until you need them

I don't hate cops, I just don't trust them before I get to know them. I have known many in my life too. I used to own a coffee shop and both the PD and sheriff's deputies came in every single day. Free coffee all the time from us, and discounts on food. Most of 'em were good guys from across the counter, but over an eight year period of owning that business, four of 'em were investigated for various crimes ranging from brutality to extortion. Only one was convicted in court (of extortion), and one other was disciplined internally and the other two investigations didn't result in any consequences that I was ever made aware of, but it's not like I don't come by my wariness honestly.

Actually Deserteagle, I think it's exactly the other way around from what you say above. I think way too many cops are predisposed to hate the people that they come in contact with. So predisposed in fact, that all it takes to piss one off is to say that I'd never voluntarily involve them in my life. I'm a hater because of that in your cop-oriented mind. Maybe you're just a little too quick on the hate-trigger on anyone who has the audacity to not trust cops? Maybe that hair-trigger gives you justification to taze a subject once more than needed to subdue him? Maybe an unneeded swing of your baton? If not you, certainly other cops use such absurd and illegal justifications for abuse. I sincerely hope that isn't, or won't be you, but regardless, I'm not a hater, I'm just more cautious of people who have a license to use violence on me with virtually no legal recourse on my part. If you can't understand that, well, too bad.

Blues

 

[Deanimator]

You can hate cops all you want until you need them

"Need" them?

Yeah, we needed them in college when the dim witted wannabe "hitman" lackey of the dope dealer across the hall [mistakenly] thought we'd gotten them expelled and threatened to kill us. The Fulton, MO PD said there was NOTHING they could, or would do. But if one of us were maimed or murdered, they'd spring into action! The Calloway County Sheriff's Department told us the same thing... but then told us to protect OURSELVES. And that's exactly what we did, cross-leveling firearms and ammunition to those who didn't have any. Our "buddy" had NO fear of the police. Apparently he developed a fear of US after he was treated to a retelling of John Wayne's "my fault, your fault, nobody's fault at all" speech from "Big Jake".

On the other hand, there was the time when I alerted my parents to an act of vandalism and possible burglary at the dry cleaners behind our apartment in Chicago. They called the Chicago PD who quickly arrived. When they found out that the suspects were WHITE, they instantly packed up and left in the OPPOSITE direction of that taken by the perpetrators.

Or maybe the time in the '90s when a friend heard screaming in the Cleveland Metroparks. He called the Berea PD several times with no response, including a couple of times from my apartment. Finally driving to the police station, we were informed that they were forwarding the calls to the Cleveland Metroparks rangers who were ignoring them.

I have several more stories, and those are just the ones where I was actually there.

"Need" the police? For WHAT escapes me...

 

[Deserteagle]

Nope, not that fortunate. Neither am I fortunate enough to have the ability to buy an insurance policy that doesn't require a police report if/when my car is stolen, so it's a moot point. Yes, I will give a report, yes I will involve the police, but it will neither be "gladly" nor voluntary. If I want to collect on my insurance policy, I will involuntarily have to involve the police.

Unless there is a law forcing you to report your stolen car, then you are voluntarily contacting the police, because there is a strong reward for doing so (you can collect on insurance). Therefore, your actions are voluntary. Nobody is forcing you to interact with the police other than you and your desire to collect money.

Yeah, I'd call the cops, and I'd cooperate with the investigation

Like I said, there are times you would voluntarily interact with the police, contrary to your initial post that said otherwise.

Actually Deserteagle, I think it's exactly the other way around from what you say above.

I said "You can hate cops all you want until you need them". Not quite sure what you mean by its "the other way around". Your refusal to talk to police, which seems to be more of a bluff, was interpreted by me as you hating police. You are saying it's a trust issue. For me however, regardless of trust, I refuse voluntary interaction with people I hate.

I think way too many cops are predisposed to hate the people that they come in contact with.

Many police I know or have met are genuinely interested in serving those they interact with, not hating them. There certainly are many cops who hate people just as there are certainly many employees in the Department of Motor Vehicles who hate registering cars. Every profession has people that hate their "clients". If you think way too many cops are predisposed toward hating people, I agree. In an ideal world, no cop would hate the people they interact with. However, there are not enough bad cops out there for me to change my opinion of all cops in general.

So predisposed in fact, that all it takes to piss one off is to say that I'd never voluntarily involve them in my life. I'm a hater because of that in your cop-oriented mind. Maybe you're just a little too quick on the hate-trigger on anyone who has the audacity to not trust cops? Maybe that hair-trigger gives you justification to taze a subject once more than needed to subdue him? Maybe an unneeded swing of your baton? If not you, certainly other cops use such absurd and illegal justifications for abuse. I sincerely hope that isn't, or won't be you, but regardless, I'm not a hater, I'm just more cautious of people who have a license to use violence on me with virtually no legal recourse on my part. If you can't understand that, well, too bad.

I may have a degree in psychology but I must say, you are quite the internet psychologist.

 

[BluesStringer]

Unless there is a law forcing you to report your stolen car, then you are voluntarily contacting the police, because there is a strong reward for doing so (you can collect on insurance). Therefore, your actions are voluntary. Nobody is forcing you to interact with the police other than you and your desire to collect money.

Ahh, so we're playing word games, huh. By strict definition, I suppose you're right, I can voluntarily lose thousands of dollars or I can voluntarily make a report and collect on the policy. Touche. Typical of the cop-oriented mind though. Twist and contort until you "win" the point, meaningless though it is.

Like I said, there are times you would voluntarily interact with the police, contrary to your initial post that said otherwise.

Well, as long as we're going on strict definitions, what you said is that I you'd "bet" that I would "gladly" involve cops under your couple of hypotheticals. You would have lost that bet.

I said "You can hate cops all you want until you need them". Not quite sure what you mean by its "the other way around". Your refusal to talk to police, which seems to be more of a bluff, was interpreted by me as you hating police. You are saying it's a trust issue. For me however, regardless of trust, I refuse voluntary interaction with people I hate.

Yeah? And so? "Hate" was your word, and I explained why it was a mistake to apply it to anything I said. And now you've explained why you would apply that word to people who you would refuse to talk to. Obviously, we see things different in that regard. Obviously, you think you can tell from wherever you are that I'm bluffing about something that I can't imagine what reason I would have to bluff about. You're wrong about me hating anyone, and you're likewise wrong about me bluffing about anything. (Shrug)

Many police I know or have met are genuinely interested in serving those they interact with, not hating them. There certainly are many cops who hate people just as there are certainly many employees in the Department of Motor Vehicles who hate registering cars. Every profession has people that hate their "clients". If you think way too many cops are predisposed toward hating people, I agree. In an ideal world, no cop would hate the people they interact with. However, there are not enough bad cops out there for me to change my opinion of all cops in general.

I don't recall asking you to change your mind about anything. I simply said what's on my mind. Otherwise, the above quote of yours is even-handed, and appears to allow that we simply see things differently. Thanks.

I may have a degree in psychology but I must say, you are quite the internet psychologist.

Yeah, because all those question marks are so indicative of me having made an internet diagnosis of you. It was no more psychologist-like than you twisting what I said and concluding that it equaled hatred.

Blues

 

[Jayman720]

quote...

I've got a friend in the Milwaukee PD. REALLY bad district to patrol.

His words: "The only difference between most cops and the bad guys is a badge."

 

[Firefighterchen]

Makes you wonder if ANY of those officers felt bad, even a little bit, about what they did. I could not keep working in that line of work if I killed a person in a diabetic emergency by beating and electrocuting him. Pretty sad...out of 52, 0 have come forward to turn in their badge. I hope someone can correct me about that last bit of info at some point in time.

 

[Deanimator]

Makes you wonder if ANY of those officers felt bad, even a little bit, about what they did.

It's HIGHLY unlikely.

ANY insular group that commits an horrific act in such a situation, be it cops, the Japanese in Nanking or the SS men at Ouradour sur Glaine will pull together and not just excuse, but justify their actions. I guarantee you that even if any of them privately FELT bad, he'd never SAY it. He'd instantly be labeled "disloyal", "weak", a "liberal", etc., and frozen out of the group.

 

[Deanimator]

Unless there is a law forcing you to report your stolen car, then you are voluntarily contacting the police,

Yeah, just like your "voluntarily" being sexually groped by the TSA when your employer ORDERS you to fly somewhere on business.

Police have a different definition of "voluntary" than most other people... you know, like a "voluntary" search of your car after you've been pulled out of it at gunpoint and held in handcuffs in the hot sun for over two hours...

 

[Farmhood]

Yeah, just like you're "voluntarily" being sexually groped by the TSA when your employer ORDERS you to fly somewhere on business.

Police have a different definition of "voluntary" than most other people... you know, like a "voluntary" search of your car after you've been pulled out of it at gunpoint and held in handcuffs in the hot sun for over two hours...

Maryland is a great state. It has it all, the lakes, mountains and the beaches (O.C.) But the libs are messing it up. Do yourself a favor, if you are ever stopped (have phone recording) or asked questions by LEO remember they are collecting evidence and do not care who is innocent or guilty. Just my humble opinion...Oh also my concealed weapons services trainer instruction

 

[wolf_fire]

I am in no way supporting any actions that the LE took on this man, but I have one nagging question. What in Sam Hill was a guy that suffers from diabetic reactions doing driving a 3000lb weapon on the highway?? How many lives could he have taken out?

A person who has diabetes knows when they either have too much or not enough sugar and they either have candies or insulin around to correct the measure. Why didn't he correct his blood sugar? Why did he allow himself to drive when he was "out of it"? Why did the people at his Bible study allow him to drive?

 

[BluesStringer]

I am in no way supporting any actions that the LE took on this man, but I have one nagging question. What in Sam Hill was a guy that suffers from diabetic reactions doing driving a 3000lb weapon on the highway?? How many lives could he have taken out?

A person who has diabetes knows when they either have too much or not enough sugar and they either have candies or insulin around to correct the measure. Why didn't he correct his blood sugar? Why did he allow himself to drive when he was "out of it"? Why did the people at his Bible study allow him to drive?

There's an awful lot of assumptions in your questions for which no one here can offer answers. And after he was killed by a gang of thugs who he probably held the same delusions about as most in this country, that cops are around to protect us, he can't answer any of these questions anyway.

As far as being allowed to drive as a diabetic, my wife was rear-ended back in like '94 or so, by a young lady who fell asleep at the wheel. My wife was waiting for a farm truck to turn left off the highway in front her, and the women that hit her was doing 60 mph. My wife was sandwiched between her Ford Taurus and the farm truck, and spent the next two weeks in Intensive Care. The Taurus' airbags deployed and the sleeping woman literally didn't have a scratch on her.

Turns out the woman had narcolepsy. If you've not heard of it, it's a disease that makes its victims fall asleep at the drop of a hat, wherever they are, whatever they're doing, just out like a light. Now the real irony. The girl was a sales rep. for Merck International, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Merck fought the lawsuit and lost, but the girl kept her job and as far as I know is still driving all over the Southeast to this day selling drugs, probably some that are prescribed as a treatment for narcolepsy. During the lawsuit though, we discovered that the Americans With Disabilities Act prevented the state from disqualifying narcoleptics from driving. There's your answer to that question anyway. The rest of your questions could only be answered by a man beaten to death by his protectors.

Blues