RAINBOW CITY, Ala., July 14 (UPI) -- A lawsuit filed by an Alabama woman accuses Rainbow City police officers of using a Taser on her 16-year-old daughter while the teen had a seizure.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Southern Alabama, stems from an incident on Jan. 16, in which the teenager, whose name is being withheld, was attending a hip-hop concert with her younger sister.
The elder girl started having a seizure during the concert -- a result of a previous car crash -- and the younger girl sought help from employees at the venue, Center Stage. The suit alleges an employee picked up the sick girl, took her to the lobby and "unceremoniously dumped" her on the floor.
She stayed on the floor until her mother came to the lobby, at which time police officers allegedly restrained the girl using a chokehold. Her mother was also restrained.
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While the mother was on her knees with her hands behind her back, an officer used a Taser on her, causing her to urinate on herself. An officer also allegedly used a Taser on the teen three times, prompting her to have another seizure. They reportedly threatened to have the girl taken to a mental hospital.
While the girl was in an ambulance, medical workers are accused of putting gauze in her mouth and taping her mouth shut, causing her "to experience the sensation of drowning," the lawsuit says.
The teen was taken to a hospital where she was treated and released from custody. The lawsuit says the girl now has panic attacks and nightmares because of the incident.
"The conduct of the named defendants was unjustified, unprovoked and grossly disproportionate, and amounted to the use of excessive force in violation of [the teen and her mother's] clearly established Fourth Amendment rights," the lawsuit reads.
The women seek punitive and medical damages, and call for for proper training for police officers. The lawsuit names Rainbow City, Rainbow City Police Chief Greg Carroll, police officers James Fazakas, George Morris and Justin Gilliand, the venue, three unnamed Rainbow City police officers, the city of Gadsden, Ala., and two unnamed Gadsden police officers.
