Stun Gun Used on Pregnant Woman in Ohio
Pastor Dale Morgan
Stun Gun Used on Pregnant Woman in Ohio*
Friday November 30, 2007 3:16 AM
By JAMES HANNAH
Associated Press Writer
TROTWOOD, Ohio (AP) - The FBI is investigating whether a policeman
violated a pregnant woman's civil rights when he used a stun gun to
subdue her, authorities in this Dayton suburb said Thursday.
The woman had gone to the police department Nov. 18 asking police to
take custody of her 1-year-old son, but tried to leave with the child
after the officer started asking her questions, said Michael Etter,
Trotwood public safety director. He added that the woman wore a winter
coat and did not tell the officer she was pregnant.
Etter said the officer feared the boy could have been harmed had the
woman been allowed to leave with him.
``I don't think any of this would have happened had she cooperated with
us,'' Etter said. ``We probably would have called her a minister, called
a crisis counselor, but you've got somebody telling you, 'I'm not
telling you anything, and now I'm going to leave.'''
Valreca Redden, 33, was arrested and taken to jail; Etter said charges
of obstruction and resisting arrest are pending. When she arrived at the
jail, it was discovered that she was pregnant, and an officer took her
to Good Samaritan Hospital.
``She never complained of any kind of injury,'' Etter said.
He said the officer released her at the hospital after giving her an
order to appear in court, but she did not sign in at the hospital.
Hospital spokeswoman Mary Anne Gorischek said no one named Valreca
Redden registered as a patient Nov. 18.
The boy was placed in the custody of his father.
A message seeking comment was left for Redden on Thursday at her
grandfather's house, which she listed as her home on a police report.
Etter said he began an internal investigation after a man complained
this week about Redden's treatment, and that the FBI investigation began
after he informed the agency of the complaint.
Michael Brooks, an FBI spokesman, said the agency has opened a
preliminary civil rights investigation based on information supplied by
Trotwood police. He declined to comment further.
Etter said when Redden showed up at the police department, she told the
officer she was ``tired of playing games'' with the boy's father, but
she refused to answer questions, became frustrated and tried to leave
with the child.
Etter said the officer, Michael Wilmer, grabbed the woman, took the
child from her and forced her to the ground. When she resisted being
handcuffed and tried to get away, the officer used the stun gun, Etter said.
According to a police report, Wilmer said the woman was upset, thrashed
violently, and continued to resist despite several warnings that he
would use the stun gun if she refused to stop fighting.
Stun guns deliver temporarily disabling bursts of electricity for
several seconds, and are used by thousands of law enforcement agencies.
Police say they help avoid hand-to-hand struggles that can injure
officers and citizens, but critics say some departments overuse them and
point to a number of deaths connected to the devices.
Dr. William Bozeman, associate director of research at Wake Forest
University's Department of Emergency Medicine, said it isn't known
whether electricity from a stun gun might pose a risk to a fetus.
Bozeman, lead researcher of a recent study on injuries from stun guns,
said he would think that a stun gun applied directly to the neck area
would pose extremely low risk to a fetus because of the distance from
the abdomen.
A telephone message seeking comment was left for Wilmer, who Etter said
remains on duty. Etter said there have been no previous allegations of
excessive force involving Wilmer and that he has not been disciplined
for any major violations of department policy.