by CARRIE CASSIDY, The Patriot-News
Friday October 17, 2008, 11:29 AM
A Carlisle man filed a lawsuit, claiming police used a Taser on him at least four times as he had a seizure in a restaurant. Richard A. Shultz, 33, wants the officers to be properly trained in how to handle people with medical conditions such as seizures.
Shultz filed an excessive force suit in U.S. Middle District Court on Wednesday asking for punitive and compensatory damages for injuries he suffered Oct. 20, 2006.
"I really believe our police officers should be trained to properly interact and assess people with disabilities. ... If they don't have enough training, they will be perhaps creating a situation that doesn't need to happen," said Debra R. Mehaffie, of the Harrisburg firm Scaringi & Scaringi, who filed the suit on Shultz's behalf.
Named in the lawsuit besides Carlisle and its police department are the two officers -- Cpl. William D. Miller and Officer Jeffrey Kurtz -- who responded to the incident in the McDonald's inside the Wal-Mart on Noble Road.
Instead of helping Shultz, they used excessive force by pushing him against the wall and "violently forcing a Taser" on him at least four times, burning him, the lawsuit states.
Carlisle police Chief Stephen Margeson denied the claims, saying an internal investigation cleared the officers of wrongdoing.
See more in Breaking News, Carlisle, County: Cumberland, Courts
