Originally published August 22 2005
Chicago police injure unarmed 14-year-old boy
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
After one Chicago officer delivered 50,000 volts of electricity into the chest of an unarmed teenager, the boy went into cardiac arrest. At a hearing about the incident, witnesses claim that the officer used undue force and the defendant is suing for $50,000 in damages.
A 14-year-old boy who went into cardiac arrest after he was zapped by a Chicago Police stun gun had not threatened police or anyone else before he was shocked, four eyewitnesses to the February incident say.
The developmentally delayed boy was sitting on a couch in a juvenile home and was not attempting to harm anyone, the witnesses claim in sworn court depositions obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
After the boy went into convulsions and fell to the floor, the officer who used the Taser allegedly said, "Now look at this f-----' paperwork I've got to do,'' at least two witnesses claim in the depositions.
The depositions were taken in a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court in which the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, the boy's guardian, charges police used excessive force in the incident.
Samuel Lopez, an 11-year veteran who deployed the Taser -- remain on the job, police said.
Amnesty International says there are no solid studies showing the weapons are safe for use on children.
But Arizona-based Taser International said tests on pigs between 66 and 257 pounds showed the weapons to be safe.
He was shocked with a defibrillator by medical staff four times to resuscitate him, but he remained in a medically-induced coma for three days, medical records show.
Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris, the boy's legal representative, said the boy could undergo further tests.
Raphael Lee, director of the Electrical Trauma Research Program at the University of Chicago, said it was unlikely a shot with a stun gun could trigger cardiac arrest or lead to long-range problems in a healthy person, but he said much more research is necessary.
In response, the boy said, "Go ahead, shoot me with your toy gun,'' testified Ulich campus supervisor Wayne Riley, a former probation officer.
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