Deaf Austin man sues police after tasing incident
Deaf Austin man sues police after tasing incident
John Kelley, a Deaf man from Austin, has filed a federal lawsuit against the San Marcos Police Department after he was tased by three police officers in San Marco, Texas in 2019. A trial is set for this September.
Local news outlets in the Austin area have reported on the incident and the legal action.
[Full-screen image of news articles and headlines from KSAT and KXAN]
[Video clips showing officers tasing Kelley and Kelley signaling that he is deaf]
Alex: What happened prior to the incident? Kelley and his wife, Mary, and their three children had just gone to a restaurant and were driving when Kelley and his wife had an argument. They pulled the car over and argued outside. John then walked away to a parking lot while Mary followed in a car. A neighbor called the police because they thought the intense argument in ASL was some kind of domestic disturbance.
I asked Kelley in an interview to explain what happened that night.
John Kelley: I was signing and someone in a house called the cops. They dialed 911. The person misunderstood the situation between me and my wife. We were signing wildly. She went away and I walked away. I got frustrated again but decided to calm myself down by walking away. Then it was unexpected. The police cruiser came up very quickly and shined its bright lights on me. The officers ran to me. I said, “I’m deaf.” They tased me. It felt like, it’s hard to say, it was like a surge of shock and I collapsed. They tased me three times very quickly. They also kicked me twice on my side. I tried yelling. The officers then backed away. I was out of breath and it was the first time I’ve ever experienced this.
[Video Clip, Credit: KSAT News]
Kelley: The officers tried to speak to me and I told them “I’m deaf.” They kept on going and going. They were testing me. I felt very hurt. Very shocked. I thought it was just me being stopped by officers but it escalated. They looked at me as a big man and targeted me. I’m tall, yeah, I’m 6’9. I’m strong. The officers were shorter. I didn’t hit them. I didn’t have knives or anything. The officers had equipment and weapons on their belts. I was unarmed so it was silly.
Alex: Kelley said he was tased in front of his wife and children. He said Mary tried to alert the officers that they were deaf but she was blocked off by an officer.
An ambulance was called and EMS personnel checked on him.
[Video clip showing EMS treating Kelley. Credit: KXAN]
Alex: Kelley said the officers then left and did not apologize.
KXAN News showed that one of the officers wrote in a Notes app that they tased him because they thought he may have been reaching for a weapon. The officers said, “We obviously wouldn’t have tased you in the beginning if we knew that you were deaf.”
[Full-screen image showing note] Credit: KXAN
Alex: Kelley said one of the police body camera videos showed that one of the officers could fingerspell. Kelley said they are questioning why he tased him when it should be very obvious that he is deaf at the beginning.
Kelley went to the hospital to get medical attention for injuries to his torso, face, knees and arms from the tasers and the struggle.
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Alex: KSAT News reported that there was no kind of discipline given out to the officers. Their names are Andrew Wisener, Basil Pierce and John Dehkordi.
Kelley sued the city of San Marcos and the three officers alleging violations of his civil rights and that he was discriminated against in violation of the ADA. The suit also accuses the officers of using excessive force. He is being represented by attorneys Rebecca Webber and Scott Hendler. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, is asking the court to provide recovery for damages inflicted on the Kelleys in an amount to be determined by the jury.
Kelley: I hope there will be a good result to help the Deaf community. Officers should wait and determine if a person is deaf or hearing before approaching them.
Alex: Thank you for sharing your story. We’ll provide an update.