FBI Investigates: Police Tasered 82 Year Old Handicapped Man
WTOV-TV
Wed June 22, 2005
Area: Wheeling, Steubenville
MARTINS FERRY, OHio - The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into accusations of police brutality in one local community.
The Martins Ferry Police Department requested the third party investigation after an officer used a stun gun on an 82-year-old man earlier this month.
According to Police Chief Barry Carpenter, officers received two complaint calls of an elderly man urinating at the city park in the eyesight of children on June 11. One officer searched the area and stopped James Edwards as he was walking on Zane Highway.
According to information from the officer's report, Carpenter says the officer asked for the man's identification, but Edwards walked away. Carpenter says the officer put his hand on the man's arm to stop him, and that's when the man allegedly got combative. Carpenter says Edwards put his hands in fists in a defensive motion and got in a scuffle with the officer, and that's when the officer put Edwards on the hood of the squad car and used a stun gun on his lower back.
However, a witness to the arrest says Edwards did not try to fight with the officer, and he says the officer was too rough with the elderly man.
Edwards' sons, James and Dave, both say the officer used excessive force on their elderly father. They say Edwards did not get into a scuffle with the officer, and they say he did not clench his hands into fists. They say their father has a mild case of dementia and did not know what was going on when he got stunned in his back.
His family says they are asking that the officer leave the Martins Ferry Police Department for the safety of other elderly residents. They say they don't want this to happen to anyone else.
Chief Carpenter says he has been advised by the city law director not to take any disciplinary action until the FBI finishes its investigation.
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