Cops beat, tase man having diabetic emergency when he can't respond, NC suit says
Three officers are accused of beating, tasing and arresting a man who couldn't speak or respond to their commands because he was in diabetic shock, according to a North Carolina lawsuit.
Now, the man is suing the officers with the Spruce Pine Police Department, the police chief and the town itself, saying the officers violated his civil rights by using excessive force and failed to provide aid during a medical emergency, according to the federal lawsuit filed June 5.
The man says he was a law enforcement officer himself and worked as a K-9 officer for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
McClatchy News reached out to the defendants named in the filing for comment June 10 but did not immediately receive a response.
Arrest during a medical emergency
The man, who had been living with diabetes since he was 9 years old, was driving home from seeing his now-wife on Feb. 16, 2024, when he noticed his blood sugar levels dropping, according to the lawsuit.
He stopped at a Walmart to get some food, then he wandered around the store before returning to the parking lot, where he sat in his car for over 30 minutes in diabetic shock, the lawsuit says.
A Walmart employee came over to the car and asked if he had a pickup order, but he struggled to communicate, so the worker left and alerted a supervisor, who came out and noted the driver was 'twitching' and 'unable to speak,' according to the filing.
They asked him to move his car out of the pickup area, but he couldn't, the lawsuit says.
The employees called the police for a welfare check, and two Spruce Pine officers arrived and tried to speak with him as well, according to the filing.
He couldn't communicate or show his identification as requested, then a third officer arrived and told him to get out of the car because he was under arrest for trespassing, according to the filing.
The lawsuit says the officers should have recognized the man was having a medical emergency and provided assistance, but instead, the filing accuses them of opening the car door and pulling him out.
In a 'three-on-one assault,' the officers 'threw him to the ground' and told him to put his hands behind his back, which he couldn't do, according to the filing.
One of the officers is accused of hitting him at least 11 times while the man was on the ground, then a second officer used his Taser twice to 'drive stun' him, which is a technique sometimes used to make an arrestee comply, according to the lawsuit.
The officers handcuffed him and searched his vehicle, but found no evidence of drugs, alcohol or weapons, the filing says.
One officer eventually gave him food and a soda, helping him recover from the episode, then he was released from custody and went to a hospital, according to the lawsuit.
'It is well-settled law, policy, custom and tradition that police officers do not brutally beat and humiliate someone in medical distress,' the filing says.
Legal fallout
The man said the incident left him with lasting trauma and nightmares, as well as damage to his reputation, until the charges were dropped eight months later.
According to the lawsuit, the man's employer, the Department of Adult Correction, conducted an internal affairs investigation as a result of his arrest. He said the incident also landed him in a law enforcement database that prevented him from being hired for a position at another sheriff's office.
He is suing the officers on accusations of excessive force, failure to render medical aid, gross negligence, false arrest, malicious prosecution, battery and libel. The lawsuit also accuses the police chief and the town of Spruce Pine of failing to have adequate policy and training on use of force, Taser use and rendering medical aid.
The District Attorney for the 35th Prosecutorial District declined to press charges against the officers following an investigation, WLOS reported.
'While, with the benefit of hindsight, the failure to involve medical personnel to evaluate (the man's) condition on scene given his apparent symptoms is cause for concern, that omission does not rise to the level of a violation of the criminal law,' District Attorney Seth Banks said, according to WKYK.
The man is seeking punitive damages.
Spruce Pine is a 50-mile drive northeast from Asheville.
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