Tasered senior files $1.1M lawsuit against Peel cops
MISSISSAUGA - An 80-year-old Mississauga woman with dementia and her daughter are suing three police officers and the Peel Regional Police Services Board for Tasering the elderly woman twice during an incident that left her with a broken hip.
Police found Iole Pasquale walking in the Thomas St. and Erin Mills Pkwy. area on Aug. 28 around 3:30 a.m. carrying a bread knife, according to the province's Special Investigations Unit. After attempts to get her to drop the knife failed, they used the Taser on her twice, causing Pasquale to fall and break her hip.
The senior is now suing for $1.1 million and her daughter, Angela, is seeking $250,000 in damages. Their lawyer, Clayton Ruby, filed the papers to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Thursday.
"There are no grounds for three armed police officers to Taser an 80-year-old confused woman with a bread knife," Ruby said Saturday. "What's telling is they Taser her once, and presumably, she's fallen down by that point. But they Taser her again when she's on the ground. And that's just cruel beyond belief."
As a result of the broken hip, Pasquale is no longer able to live alone and now resides in a retirement home in Peel Region.
"Her life has fallen apart," Ruby said. "(Her daughter) had to sell the house and she doesn't know that yet because most of her memory is gone from this incident. Angela has now quit her job because the home her mother is in doesn't provide enough nursing services. (Iole) is scared that she's been taken to this new home to die."
According to the statement of claim, the plaintiffs allege the officers failed to take proper steps to recognize Iole's mental state and "improperly used excessive and potentially deadly force." They also plead the board has failed to ensure their officers are properly trained to deal with mental health issues and issues involving the elderly.
Furthermore, the Pasquales want to lift the "veil of secrecy" of the identities of the three officers, whose names have not been released to the public.
The officers were cleared of any criminal charges relating to this case by the SIU last month. However, then-SIU director Ian Scott said there had been an alternative option for them -- waiting, which "would seem to have been a preferred option."
Peel Regional Police Const. George Tudos declined comment because "it's a civil dispute and we normally don't give out anything in regards to any court statements or proceedings."
Ruby said the police have yet to file their statement of defence, but must do so within 60 days.
"What's next is they file that statement, we see what their position is and then we get to cross-examine them," he said. "What (police) need to teach is backing off, a cooling-off period, talking."
Tasered senior files $1.1M lawsuit against Peel cops | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
I'm not even sure how to process all of this. I think we do have some definite excessive force but don't also want to diminish just how dangerous a confused person waving a knife can present, even an elderly one. I question why someone who was in such a state of dementia as to simply get dressed and go for a walk with a knife in the middle of the night was living alone in the first place. My guess, and it is just a guess, is that she was presenting difficulty with applying for Long Term Care and the family wasn't being as forceful with it as they should have. Now we have a 1.1 million dollar lawsuit. 1.1 million?
I don't think there are clear black and white answers here. Thoughts?
MISSISSAUGA - An 80-year-old Mississauga woman with dementia and her daughter are suing three police officers and the Peel Regional Police Services Board for Tasering the elderly woman twice during an incident that left her with a broken hip.
Police found Iole Pasquale walking in the Thomas St. and Erin Mills Pkwy. area on Aug. 28 around 3:30 a.m. carrying a bread knife, according to the province's Special Investigations Unit. After attempts to get her to drop the knife failed, they used the Taser on her twice, causing Pasquale to fall and break her hip.
The senior is now suing for $1.1 million and her daughter, Angela, is seeking $250,000 in damages. Their lawyer, Clayton Ruby, filed the papers to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Thursday.
"There are no grounds for three armed police officers to Taser an 80-year-old confused woman with a bread knife," Ruby said Saturday. "What's telling is they Taser her once, and presumably, she's fallen down by that point. But they Taser her again when she's on the ground. And that's just cruel beyond belief."
As a result of the broken hip, Pasquale is no longer able to live alone and now resides in a retirement home in Peel Region.
"Her life has fallen apart," Ruby said. "(Her daughter) had to sell the house and she doesn't know that yet because most of her memory is gone from this incident. Angela has now quit her job because the home her mother is in doesn't provide enough nursing services. (Iole) is scared that she's been taken to this new home to die."
According to the statement of claim, the plaintiffs allege the officers failed to take proper steps to recognize Iole's mental state and "improperly used excessive and potentially deadly force." They also plead the board has failed to ensure their officers are properly trained to deal with mental health issues and issues involving the elderly.
Furthermore, the Pasquales want to lift the "veil of secrecy" of the identities of the three officers, whose names have not been released to the public.
The officers were cleared of any criminal charges relating to this case by the SIU last month. However, then-SIU director Ian Scott said there had been an alternative option for them -- waiting, which "would seem to have been a preferred option."
Peel Regional Police Const. George Tudos declined comment because "it's a civil dispute and we normally don't give out anything in regards to any court statements or proceedings."
Ruby said the police have yet to file their statement of defence, but must do so within 60 days.
"What's next is they file that statement, we see what their position is and then we get to cross-examine them," he said. "What (police) need to teach is backing off, a cooling-off period, talking."
Tasered senior files $1.1M lawsuit against Peel cops | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun
I'm not even sure how to process all of this. I think we do have some definite excessive force but don't also want to diminish just how dangerous a confused person waving a knife can present, even an elderly one. I question why someone who was in such a state of dementia as to simply get dressed and go for a walk with a knife in the middle of the night was living alone in the first place. My guess, and it is just a guess, is that she was presenting difficulty with applying for Long Term Care and the family wasn't being as forceful with it as they should have. Now we have a 1.1 million dollar lawsuit. 1.1 million?
I don't think there are clear black and white answers here. Thoughts?
