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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 6,529
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 Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA]
#8822936 - 08/25/08 12:23 AM (3 months, 9 days ago) |
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Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban
August 25, 2008 - pittsburghlive.com
 Lorrie McGee and Bill Schmidt are frightened their 29-year-old son could die in Allegheny General Hospital's intensive care unit before Pittsburgh Police let them in to see him.
Jason Schmidt was Tasered four or five times after he overdosed on cocaine and barbiturates and suffered a seizure Friday, according to his parents and a friend who was there and called for an ambulance. Schmidt is under arrest on relatively minor charges and, although he is in a medically induced coma, an officer guards his hospital door.
"It's hard. There's never been a time in my son's life when I haven't been there for him. Now, when he needs me the most, I can't be there. It's frustrating," McGee, of Renfrew, said of her only child Sunday. "I'm convinced that I could bring him out of this just by talking to him."
Police said Schmidt is a prisoner and not entitled to visitors.
"I consider it incredibly immoral to deny access to his parents while he's in this coma," said his father, Bill Schmidt, owner of Commodore Cafe in Observatory Hill. He and McGee said their son's medical problems are life-threatening.
Jason Schmidt of Observatory Hill had a seizure at the home of a friend, Andrew Balint Jr. Balint said he called 911 for an ambulance, but two police officers arrived first and Tasered Schmidt four or five times after Balint asked for help in controlling his friend. Schmidt had another seizure after paramedics put him on a stretcher, Balint said.
McGee said she spent about five minutes with her son in AGH's emergency room before an officer guarding him asked her to leave. A police lieutenant ordered that the family be allowed to visit as long as they wanted. They stayed until about 2 a.m., when he was moved into ICU. By 7 a.m., the order had been reversed, and Schmidt's parents have not been allowed to see him since, they and police agree.
Assistant Police Chief Regina McDonald said her decision not to allow visitors was based on "concern for the safety of the officers as well as other people." Exceptions to the no-visitors policy are made and some hospitalized prisoners are allowed to have them, she said.
"It was my understanding that he was not dying," she said. If she learns Schmidt's condition is life-threatening, she said, she would reconsider allowing his parents to visit.
"We'll look at it day to day. But keep in mind, he is under arrest and is not entitled to visitors," McDonald said.
"This ain't a dog in the kennel. This is my son," Bill Schmidt said."This isn't an ax murderer. It's someone who made a bad decision."
Schmidt was charged with criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He may be charged with aggravated assault of a police officer, McDonald said. Details on the Tasering and Schmidt's arrest will be released today, she said.
Balint said Schmidt did not physically or verbally threaten the officers and was not trespassing.
 He said Schmidt was acting "not right" when he arrived unexpectedly at Balint's North Side home Friday. Within 10 minutes, Schmidt had a seizure while sitting on the couch, and Balint, who thought his friend might have died, called 911 for an ambulance. Balint said Schmidt came out of his seizure after a couple of minutes and Balint took him onto the porch, away from Balint's 2-year-old son.
He said two female police officers arrived and he asked them to help control his friend. Schmidt was incoherent, kept falling down and obviously did not understand anything he or the officers said to him, Balint said.
"He was like delirious, like he wasn't even there," he said. "I said, 'Help me. Get him help.' They Tasered him instead." Balint said Schmidt fell off the porch and rolled on the ground, sometimes trying to get up. The officers Tasered him three or four more times using two Taser guns, according to Balint.
Bill Schmidt said he took a few photos of his son in the emergency room and that possibly scared police, who may have thought he was documenting evidence of the Tasering for possible legal action.
He said he took the photos because Jason Schmidt "needs to see himself like this ... the kind of condition he's putting himself in."
He said he did not look for Taser marks, bruises or other injuries and did not even lift the hospital gown covering his son. The cell-phone photos show his son on life support, with a small bruise visible on his forehead.
McGee said doctors told her Schmidt now suffers from disseminated intravascular coagulation, a blood problem commonly called DIC, that could have been caused by the overdose or the Tasering. The condition can lead to organ failure.
Dr. Darrell Triulzi, medical director of the Institute for Transfusion Medicine who is not connected to Schmidt's case, said DIC first causes blood to clot too much, starving organs of oxygen, but then uses up blood clotting factors, causing a person to bleed too much. It could be caused by tissue damage or a seizure, he said.
Schmidt had less severe seizures Dec. 7 after taking cocaine and acting upset and agitated, McGee said. She called police, who took her son to Sewickley Valley Hospital but did not file charges, she said. He was released from the hospital that night, she said.
"My son has a bad depression and bipolar disorder, and this is why he turns to drugs occasionally," she said.
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 Coaster
Psychosomatic Psychonaught
 
Registered: 05/22/06
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Loc: La La Land
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: veggie]
#8822986 - 08/25/08 12:47 AM (3 months, 9 days ago) |
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"He was like delirious, like he wasn't even there," he said. "I said, 'Help me. Get him help.' They Tasered him instead."
this is the case more and more these days  
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CptnGarden
Tabaquero
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 9,831
Loc: the microbial layer
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: Coaster]
#8823118 - 08/25/08 01:42 AM (3 months, 9 days ago) |
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fuckin retarded ass police
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 16,838
Loc: Caribbean
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: veggie]
#8823358 - 08/25/08 04:28 AM (3 months, 9 days ago) |
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> Police said Schmidt is a prisoner and not entitled to visitors.
Oh yeah, guilty until proven innocent, how could I be so dense to forget such a fundamental part of the US judicial system. Silly me. (sarcasm)
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DepthToTheCore
TechKnow
Registered: 05/05/04
Posts: 2,118
Loc: Australia
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: Seuss]
#8823536 - 08/25/08 06:54 AM (3 months, 9 days ago) |
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I hope to GOD police here dont get tasers. I'd rather get shot with rubber bullets than tasered. I have a minor heart condition, i could become one of the "casualties".
Fuck that.
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Coaster
Psychosomatic Psychonaught
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 14,975
Loc: La La Land
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: DepthToTheCore]
#8824374 - 08/25/08 11:29 AM (3 months, 8 days ago) |
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well since u no about this shit ahead of time unfortunately the best thing u can do is just comply with everything the cop says even if hes a dick u just gotta do it in fear of ur life
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CptnGarden
Tabaquero
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 9,831
Loc: the microbial layer
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: Coaster]
#8825046 - 08/25/08 01:46 PM (3 months, 8 days ago) |
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if i wasnt being violent and was somewhat delerious and a cop threatened to shoot me with a taser i may very well have their throat for breakfast
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Coaster
Psychosomatic Psychonaught
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 14,975
Loc: La La Land
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: CptnGarden]
#8825198 - 08/25/08 02:16 PM (3 months, 8 days ago) |
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that just shows how counterproductive tasers can be in the wrong hands
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Coaster
Psychosomatic Psychonaught
Registered: 05/22/06
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: Coaster]
#8825205 - 08/25/08 02:17 PM (3 months, 8 days ago) |
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o ya and moral of the story
if ur frwend is ODing call 911 and say u need an ambulance and dont say y then hang up so the cops dont show up instead
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 6,529
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: veggie]
#8827077 - 08/25/08 07:57 PM (3 months, 8 days ago) |
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Updated video from kdka.com...
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Entropymancer
Saint of Circumstance
Registered: 07/16/05
Posts: 5,617
Loc: PNW
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: veggie]
#8827320 - 08/25/08 08:37 PM (3 months, 8 days ago) |
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Bufotenin
PiHKAL|TiHKAL|PCPiHKAL|Rhodium
DMT Extraction|Jungle Spice|The FASA Method
Guide to Hunting Amanita
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Aunt Biddy
Stranger
Registered: 09/05/08
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: Coaster]
#8882699 - 09/05/08 02:31 PM (2 months, 28 days ago) |
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Jason D. Schmidt is my nephew and I am his “Aunt Biddy”. I also am certainly not here to debate the issues of right or wrong (that is not for me to decide) But what I am doing is stating the facts as we know them. Jason was visiting a childhood friend of 20 yrs. at the time of the incident. Trespassing? I think not. Secondly, when you are going in and out of consciousness and in need of CPR not to mention having seizures. how could you possibly be complacent or compliant? You would be disoriented X 3. (person.place&time) So, as for resisting arrest -How could you arrest someone who is repeatedly having seizures and is in need of URGENT medical care at a Level One Trauma facility? And lastly, as for being disorderly, okay I’ll give them that one. People who are in need of CPR to start breathing again and who are experiencing seizures probably would tend to act disorderly. Jason is my oldest nephew and I love him like a son. He doesn’t always make the best decisions when it comes to certain things and this was an example of one of those times. However, the only person who was initially adversely affected on that day was Jason himself. Everything was compounded by two FEMALE officers showing up first instead of the paramedics. What they did to him was not only despicable, it was cowardly. And then to deny my sister Lorrie (his mother) and Bill (his father) any initial visitation was reprehensible. They were treated like criminals themselves by the guards at his door. The Pittsburgh Police viewed Jason as a thug and not the man who goes to church with his great-grandmother on Sunday morning. Obviously they have a lot to learn about how to handle these types of situations and how to distinguish a domestic disturbance from a true medical emergency. They put his life in serious jeopardy by reacting in the manner in which they did. And I’m quite sure as we speak they are trying to figure out a way to cover it all up and/or to justify their actions
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Coaster
Psychosomatic Psychonaught
Registered: 05/22/06
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: Aunt Biddy]
#8882815 - 09/05/08 02:56 PM (2 months, 28 days ago) |
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omg that is so tragic i am so sorry
i really really hope that you get some retribution for
this blatant stripping of your nephews rights, i really hope those cops get fired
and unfortunately until people realize that drug use is a medical issue and not a legal issue then these events may still continue
or until cops start getting punished for their trigger happy tasers
if u ever come back here to read this and have some updates on the news i am very curious as to whats happening
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johnm214
Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 7,022
Loc: Americas
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: Aunt Biddy]
#8885387 - 09/06/08 05:00 AM (2 months, 28 days ago) |
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Yep, I agree totally.
Not to be sexist at all, but I really wonder sometimes about some of the female officers. They seem terified of anyone that doesn't salute them, like someone having a medical emergency, and seem to demand everyone do exactly as they say or get beat/tazed/shot.
I really wonder if this wasn't more of the control freak cop stuff I've personally witnessed. Why the hell did the officers need to come? Why the hell would you send female officers to handle a situation such as this?
Why?
"Stop having a seizure.... Zap"
Makes perfect sense
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 16,838
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 hours, 5 minutes
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Re: Tasered man's parents balk at visitor ban [PA] [Re: johnm214]
#8885787 - 09/06/08 09:11 AM (2 months, 28 days ago) |
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The really sad part is the cops will justify this because of the drugs. However, something such as diabetic ketoacidosis can have identical symptoms to those described above. Regardless of the cause, the cops were out of line! Whatever happened to the motto "to protect and to serve"? The cops need to stop using their @#$#ing tasers as cattle prods and start treating them like lethal weapons. When used properly, the taser can be a huge benefit to police, but the potential for misuse (along with the frightening numbers of actual misuses) makes it hard to justify allowing police to carry them.
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Just another spore in the wind.
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