A Norfolk, Va., police officer had no choice but to use a stun gun on a brain-injured woman twirling a Hula Hoop in a street median, a city official said.
Norfolk City Attorney Bernard Pishko said Officer Nicholas Parks did not use excessive force when he stunned the woman while responding to an excessive noise complaint as she claims in a lawsuit, the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday.
"We're not defending it as best practice," Pishko said. "Officer Parks didn't know he was dealing with a citizen who was brain-injured ... . All he knew was she was non-compliant and agitated."
The woman, 49-year-old Pamela Brown, is suing in Norfolk Circuit Court, seeking $5 million in damages.
The newspaper said Brown suffered a brain injury in 1977 when she was hit by a truck, and she has seizures and short-term memory loss.
Her lawsuit claims Parks disregarded Brown's repeated statements that her injuries prevented her from putting her arm behind her back, as the officer had ordered. The lawsuit says Parks also ignored Brown's efforts to tell him about the documents she had with her that described her medical condition.
"The officer misjudged," Pishko said. "He didn't realize she was brain-damaged and overreacted."
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