"Police Use Taser on Deaf, Disabled Alabama Man"
Sometimes, the title just says it all.
Police in Mobile, Ala., used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf, mentally disabled man who they said wouldn't leave a store's bathroom.
The family of 37-year-old Antonio Love has filed a formal complaint over the incident on Friday.
Police tell the Press-Register of Mobile that officers shot pepper spray under the bathroom door after knocking several times. After forcing the door open, they used the stun gun on Love.
Police spokesman Christopher Levy says police didn't realize Love had a hearing impairment until after he was out of the bathroom. The officers' conduct is under investigation.
Apparently, in a moment of clarity, the magistrate refused to book Love on "charges including disorderly conduct." Good for him.
Stay tuned for a web article tomorrow from Jacob Sullum on the long, proud history of disorderly conduct arrests in America.
In the meantime, check out Reason's (well, mostly Radley Balko's) archive on the many "isolated incidents" of police misconduct here.
UPDATE: Jacob Sullum blogged about this incident (with more detail) here.
