11-Yr-Old Disabled Girl Tasered At School After Punching Officer In Face
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WFTV 9
wftv.com
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Orange County, Fla. - An Orange County deputy said she had
no choice but to shock an 11-year-old girl with a Taser on
Thursday morning in an elementary school classroom.
Deputies said it was to stop a violent temper tantrum.
The girl at Moss Park Elementary punched the deputy in the
nose so hard the deputy went to the hospital. While an 11-
year-old shocked by a Taser sounds extreme to some parents,
other parents told Eyewitness News the girl deserved it.
Eyewitness News talked to several parents Thursday who said
that Thaliamar Jimenez has caused trouble before. Most of
those parents are coming down firmly on the side of the
deputy.
Meanwhile, the mother of the fourth grader is having a hard
time understanding how another day at school turned into
her daughter going to jail.
"The school knows pretty well that my daughter is like a 5-
year-old," explained the girl's mother, Sandra Garcia.
Garcia told Eyewitness News that her 11-year-old daughter
has a learning disability and when she was approached by
the deputy Thursday morning in class she was simply scared
to death.
According to the arrest report, before school Thursday
morning, another student told teachers at Moss Park that
Thaliamar pushed a boy into the street. When teachers tried
to talk to the girl she became combative, started pushing
her desk and chair and even spit at the teachers.
The school resource officer, Orange County Deputy Donna
Hudepohl, tried to take Thaliamar to the principal's office
and that's when the child started swinging, hitting the
officer in the nose. Hudepohl was transported to Florida
East Hospital. She sustained severe bruising to the nasal
cavity as a result of the injury.
"My daughter told me, 'Mommy, you know I wouldn't hit
nobody! If I hit her in the nose, it was by mistake. I
didn't hit her intentionally. I didn't do that!'" Garcia
said.
"She actually spoke to the student, told her multiple times
to come. Even after the student punched her, she still
continued to try and make the arrest without having to taze
her. And that obviously wasn't working," explained Corporal
Susan Soto, Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Outside the school, many of the parents Eyewitness News
talked to question the use of a Taser on an 11-year-old
child.
"I just don't know if that's necessary," one parent said.
Many other parents are standing by the woman they call
"their deputy."
"She had it coming. She assaulted an officer. You can't let
that go," said parent Shanna Herrick.
Those same parents Eyewitness News talked to said that, to
their knowledge, it was the first time an incident like
this has taken place at the school.
Jimenez was transported to Florida East Hospital to have
the Taser prongs removed, but she had no other injuries.
She was arrested and charged with battery on a law
enforcement officer, disrupting a school function as well
as resisting with violence.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office policy allows deputies
to use Tasers when there is "active resistance" from a
suspect. There is no rule against using Tasers on children,
but in 2005 a Florida lawmaker tried to make it illegal for
any officer to shock children with Tasers. The proposal was
stalled because there is no scientific research showing
what Tasers can do to kids medically.
More at:
http://www.wftv.com/news/15722616/detail.html
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