TasedBro

This time Tampa cops didn’t need to tase their latest suspect to paralyze him–he already was.

Served and protected.In of the dumbest moves I’ve ever seen by police, a Hillsborough County, Florida deputy DUMPED A PARALYZED MAN OUT OF HIS WHEELCHAIR to determine if he was, in fact, disabled.

Brian Sterner, wheelchair bound for 14 years, was brought in on a traffic violation when deputy Charlette Marshall-Jones dumped Sterner out of his wheelchair and searched on the floor during booking–breaking two ribs.

Marshall-Jones, was originally suspended without pay before a warrant was issued for her arrest, while her three supervisors (who didn’t report the innocent) have been suspended WITH PAY. I hope that free vacation make them think twice next time. Maybe I’ll go pushing handicapped people out of their chairs, or rolling them into traffic until I get suspended with pay, too.

And who is Brian Sterner? Well, according to the crack team of reporters over at WFTV Orlando, Florida, he’s a man of many interests:

On Sterner’s MySpace page, the 32-year-old cites interests that include wheelchair rugby, yoga, art shows and documentaries.

Good job checking his MySpace page, WFTV. How much you pay to learn that one in journalism school?

His lawyer was even more glowing, according to the Tampa Tribune.

The attorney said his client is an extremely complex man who is gifted intellectually, creatively and socially.

“He’s on a level beyond ours.”

I get that he didn’t deserve the treatment he received, but A level beyond ours!? Geeze, I hope he’s able to find time between documentaries and yoga class to relate to us mortals.

But with countless websites covering the story and the video getting hundreds of thousands of views, Marshall-Jones is getting a bit of a bad rap here.

What happened to America’s ability to look the other way in the presence of tough-as-nails, “dump-handicapped-people-out-of-their-wheelchairs-now, ask questions later” type of investigation style. I seriously fear for the crime-fighting abilities of Florida’s police force now that Marshall-Jones is off the force. I mean no one has even come close to infiltrating Steven Hawking’s suspected Columbian drug ring.

It’s unclear what sort of settlement the Sterner will come to with the department, but compared to police conduct recently, I guess he should just be thankful he wasn’t tased after disobeying orders to get up off the ground…

TasedBro made no attempt to contact Marshall-Jones for comment. She has no Myspace page, but we suspect her attorney would have this to say:

Classic Lebowski.

The Unglamorous Reality of Wheelchair Dumping:

Tags: disabled, handicapped, Wheelchair