Anti Federalist
07-12-2012, 09:06 PM
Former Nun Claims Police Brutality in Nursing Home Incident
http://www.abc6onyourside.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wsyx_vid_18424.shtml
COLUMBUS -- A 76-year-old former nun claims she was tackled and roughed up by Columbus Police at a nursing home.
In a lawsuit filed in Federal Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Elizabeth Bormann claims the incident occurred when she refused to leave the Highbanks Care Center after driving from Illinois to visit a friend.
Bormann says, every week, she would drive 540 miles to the Lazelle Road facility, where her 96-year-old friend is confined to a bed.
"I usually talk about the people in his life," Bormann said of her weekly Saturday visits.
But Bormann says she was not allowed to see her friend after arriving at the nursing home on March 17. Instead, she says, she was told the elderly man's legal guardian had removed her from the list of approved visitors.
Police say the removal was a response to a series of scams perpetrated by multiple women that had cost the man more than $500,000.
Investigators do not suspect Bormann of involvement in the scams.
Bormann admits she was told to leave the nursing home, but says she refused to leave the front lobby until she was allowed to personally deliver the news of her removal to her friend.
"I told them that I needed to see (him) because I needed to tell (him) that my visitation had been (canceled). And of course he was very upset, but I needed to tell him," Bormann told ABC 6 Investigates.
Columbus Police Officer Theodis N. Turner, III was dispatched to the nursing home, where he instructed Bormann to leave the facility.
That, according to Bormann, is when the situation became violent.
"He said to me, 'I've had enough of you,' and he charged into me, basically, and somehow or the other, charged into my side, took my arm. It all happened so fast.
"Before I know it, I was down on my knees and then, of course, I urinated, and I started a little crying, and pretty much I was just stunned.
"I was humiliated. I do believe that I've become a victim. It just was such a surprise and such a shock."
Bormann's Hilliard-based attorney, Ashley Rutherford Starling, is adamant that her client did nothing to elicit such an allegedly extreme reaction.
"It was just unbelievable that something like this could happen here in Columbus, in a nursing home, to a woman in her seventies," Starling said.
The lawsuit claims "excessive use of force" in violating Bormann's civil rights.
But Columbus Division of Police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner says nursing home employees witnessed the incident, and paint a very different picture than that which is being offered by Bormann and her attorney.
Weiner tells ABC 6 Investigates a witness filled out a statement for police, saying the officer gave Bormann every opportunity to avoid handcuffs, but that "she resisted him the whole time."
Officer Turner tells a similar story in his official action-response report, which he was required to complete due to his admitted use of force.
In the report, Turner wrote that Bormann was not responding to commands, refusing to move, pulling away, and wrestling with the officer, prompting him to physically place her on the ground.
"I was finally able to get Ms. Bormann off the couch," Turner wrote in the report. "But she dropped to her knees and laid up against the couch."
In her lawsuit, Bormann claims that Officer Turner eventually called for backup, and a female officer soon arrived, then sarcastically asked, "Now this is why you call for backup?"
That female officer removed the handcuffs and issued a criminal trespassing ticket to Bormann. She was not arrested, but Bormann later pleaded guilty and paid a fine for the misdemeanor charge.
Bormann -- who spent 2 decades as a nun and 18 years as a teacher -- is not contesting the trespassing charge, but says her crime did not warrant Officer Turner's reaction.
"It wasn't necessary. I wasn't doing anything. I was trespassing, but I wasn't doing anything else."
Bormann's lawsuit claims she has lasting injuries from the violent encounter, which required her to undergo physical therapy for eight weeks.
"It was quite traumatic for me, and then of course, it hurt," she said.
The City of Columbus has been served with a copy of her lawsuit, but no court hearings have been scheduled in federal court.
A message was left by ABC 6 Investigates for the administrator of Highbanks Care Center has not been returned.
http://www.abc6onyourside.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wsyx_vid_18424.shtml
COLUMBUS -- A 76-year-old former nun claims she was tackled and roughed up by Columbus Police at a nursing home.
In a lawsuit filed in Federal Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Elizabeth Bormann claims the incident occurred when she refused to leave the Highbanks Care Center after driving from Illinois to visit a friend.
Bormann says, every week, she would drive 540 miles to the Lazelle Road facility, where her 96-year-old friend is confined to a bed.
"I usually talk about the people in his life," Bormann said of her weekly Saturday visits.
But Bormann says she was not allowed to see her friend after arriving at the nursing home on March 17. Instead, she says, she was told the elderly man's legal guardian had removed her from the list of approved visitors.
Police say the removal was a response to a series of scams perpetrated by multiple women that had cost the man more than $500,000.
Investigators do not suspect Bormann of involvement in the scams.
Bormann admits she was told to leave the nursing home, but says she refused to leave the front lobby until she was allowed to personally deliver the news of her removal to her friend.
"I told them that I needed to see (him) because I needed to tell (him) that my visitation had been (canceled). And of course he was very upset, but I needed to tell him," Bormann told ABC 6 Investigates.
Columbus Police Officer Theodis N. Turner, III was dispatched to the nursing home, where he instructed Bormann to leave the facility.
That, according to Bormann, is when the situation became violent.
"He said to me, 'I've had enough of you,' and he charged into me, basically, and somehow or the other, charged into my side, took my arm. It all happened so fast.
"Before I know it, I was down on my knees and then, of course, I urinated, and I started a little crying, and pretty much I was just stunned.
"I was humiliated. I do believe that I've become a victim. It just was such a surprise and such a shock."
Bormann's Hilliard-based attorney, Ashley Rutherford Starling, is adamant that her client did nothing to elicit such an allegedly extreme reaction.
"It was just unbelievable that something like this could happen here in Columbus, in a nursing home, to a woman in her seventies," Starling said.
The lawsuit claims "excessive use of force" in violating Bormann's civil rights.
But Columbus Division of Police spokesman Sgt. Rich Weiner says nursing home employees witnessed the incident, and paint a very different picture than that which is being offered by Bormann and her attorney.
Weiner tells ABC 6 Investigates a witness filled out a statement for police, saying the officer gave Bormann every opportunity to avoid handcuffs, but that "she resisted him the whole time."
Officer Turner tells a similar story in his official action-response report, which he was required to complete due to his admitted use of force.
In the report, Turner wrote that Bormann was not responding to commands, refusing to move, pulling away, and wrestling with the officer, prompting him to physically place her on the ground.
"I was finally able to get Ms. Bormann off the couch," Turner wrote in the report. "But she dropped to her knees and laid up against the couch."
In her lawsuit, Bormann claims that Officer Turner eventually called for backup, and a female officer soon arrived, then sarcastically asked, "Now this is why you call for backup?"
That female officer removed the handcuffs and issued a criminal trespassing ticket to Bormann. She was not arrested, but Bormann later pleaded guilty and paid a fine for the misdemeanor charge.
Bormann -- who spent 2 decades as a nun and 18 years as a teacher -- is not contesting the trespassing charge, but says her crime did not warrant Officer Turner's reaction.
"It wasn't necessary. I wasn't doing anything. I was trespassing, but I wasn't doing anything else."
Bormann's lawsuit claims she has lasting injuries from the violent encounter, which required her to undergo physical therapy for eight weeks.
"It was quite traumatic for me, and then of course, it hurt," she said.
The City of Columbus has been served with a copy of her lawsuit, but no court hearings have been scheduled in federal court.
A message was left by ABC 6 Investigates for the administrator of Highbanks Care Center has not been returned.