Tased deaf man files $2 million claim

MOBILE, Ala. - A $2 million claim has been filed in the case in which a deaf and mentally challenged man was tased by police.

Antonio Love was tasered by police back in July after a store employee complained he'd been in the bathroom too long.

Video taken from inside an Azalea Road Dollar General store shows Mobile Police officers enter the store, then take Love out and sit him on the pavement.

It's what happened off camera that led to the claim filed against the city.

"He asked them to stop, he tried to say, 'I'm deaf, I'm deaf,' and they still did it. Looking at my son now, it hurts. I just want justice. I want them to pay for what they did to my son," said Phyllis Love, shortly after it happened.

The store manager called 911 after he became suspicious about Love being in the store's bathroom for a very long time.

On the taped 911 call, you can hear the store manager tell police,
"Normally the bathroom door doesn't lock unless someone's inside bathroom, and I was wondering if an officer can come out and check out for me?"

Officers did come and check it out. They were unable to get into the bathroom or get Love to come out. So, officers threw pepper spray under the door and tased Love.

Love signed what happened, while his brother translated.

"He saw smoke, he said, 'What's that?' He started putting water on the floor and tissue trying to block the smoke out. He put water to his mouth and face and tried to hold his breath."

It wasn't until after officer got Love out of the bathroom, when they realized he was deaf.

Love's family said he has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old.

"(It's a) mystery why the store manager or police did not simply use a key to enter the restroom," Love's attorney, Tommy James, said in a statement.

James went on to say that once Love realized it was the police trying to get in, "He put up no resistance and yet still police still tasered him three times."

Mobile Police Chief Phillip Garrett apologized for the incident and held a supervisor responsible for carting Love off to jail but not arrested.

James said the city has ignored his request for information relating to the case, such as the 911 tapes from the police along with the internal affairs investigation.

The next step could be to file a lawsuit.

Wanda Rahman, a lawyer for the Mobile Police Department, did not have a comment.

"I have not seen the complaint filed," she said.

Statement from Love's lawyer

"The City has essentially forced us to file this because they have completely ignored all of the requests that we have made for information," James said.

"We have requested the 911 tapes from the Mobile Police Department and they have refused to provide them to us even though they provided them freely to local media. The City has also refused to provide us with the internal affairs investigation into this incident. Based on the nature of this case, I am extremely surprised that the City is being so uncooperative."

Commenting on the incident, James said, "It is clear that what happened to Antonio should have never happened. He has never had any run-ins with the law and he was not a threat to anyone. Once Antonio realized that it was the police trying to get into the bathroom, he put up no resistance and yet police still tasered him three times. Even after discovering that Antonio was hearing-impaired and had a diminished mental capacity, the police still arrested and charged him.

"Thankfully, the Magistrate had the good sense not to sign the warrants. It is very rare for a Magistrate not to sign off on the warrants.

"It is puzzling as to why the police were even called in the first place simply because a person was allegedly in the bathroom for too long and not causing any problems.

"Another mystery is why the store manager or police did not simply use a key to enter the restroom. It is also interesting that it took five or six officers to handle this situation and that it took approximately fifty minutes to gain access to the restroom."

James stated that his investigation is in its early stages and that the family would have no further comment at this time.

"The family has not made a final decision on whether they will file a lawsuit. We are just trying to get all of the facts as to what really happened to Antonio and why it happened and then we will go from there. However, we may be forced to file suit so that we will be able to issue subpoenas to obtain the Internal Affairs investigation and other relevant documents because the City of Mobile is not willing to release this information to us."