Disabled woman dies of stroke in cop car after begging for help

2023-02-25

Wheelchair-bound Tennessee woman, 60, slurs as she pleads with cops while being arrested for refusing to leave hospital – shortly before she died of STROKE in back of police cruiser

Lisa Edwards, 60, was found unresponsive in the back of a cop car after struggling with officers for over an hour
She told them several times that she was unable to breathe, and even said ‘you’re going to kill me’
No charges are going to be brought against the officers involved, with Knoxville Police launching an internal probe

Horrific footage released by police shows a wheelchair-bound woman slurring and pleading with police as she is arrested for refusing to leave hospital, just moments before she died from a stroke in the back of a cop car.

Knoxville Police have released their body camera video of the harrowing incident which happened at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, in Tennessee, on February 6.

Lisa Edwards, 60, had been refusing to leave the hospital and was arrested on trespassing charges when she died in the back of the police cruiser – minutes after telling cops ‘you’re going to kill me’.

The footage shows Lisa being taken into custody, gasping and wheezing before she tells officers that she ‘can’t breathe’. Her skin becomes grayer, and her voice more slurred as the footage continues. The latter is a well-known symptom of a stroke.

Authorities released the hour and 16-minute video with a warning that some of the video may be distressing.

Knoxville Police have released their body camera video of the harrowing incident which happened at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, in Tennessee, on February 6

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NLJIQV1t1DI%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

Lisa starts telling an officer that she can’t get back up to the hospital, with officers struggling to get her into the back of the van before she says she needs to sit down.

Officers can be heard being brusque with her, telling her to ‘help them help her’ as she starts wheezing and slurring her words while wearing a hospital

One cop can be heard telling her that she’s ‘been medically cleared’ before another says ‘you weren’t having any breathing problems when you were out here smoking a cigarette.’

Lisa is then told to ‘stop’ when she says ‘I’m going to pass out’, with the officer telling her ‘you’re going to get in there one way or another.’

The horrific footage continues for another hour, showing officers trying to force her into the back of the van as they tell her she doesn’t have an inhaler.

Another officer then tells her that he will ‘stuff her in’ if she doesn’t help, with Lisa crying out as they try to move her.

They then tell her she will ‘get more charges’ and another says they are ‘tired of her deadweight crap’.

Lisa is then told she is being ‘ridiculous’, before protesting and saying ‘help lift me up, oh please’ as cops threaten to slam the door on her foot.

Lisa’s family have said that they ‘can’t believe the way she was treated’, adding ‘she did not deserve to be treated like that, nobody does’

They say that she was left physically disabled in August 2019 after suffering from her first stroke, but she was still mentally sound

She can then be heard saying ‘you’re going to kill me’ in her final moments, begging for help before the footage cuts off.

Police confirmed that Officer Timothy Distasio started to transport Lisa to Roger Wilson Detention Facility before pulling over a car that was driving recklessly.

He then discovered that Lisa was unresponsive in the backseat of the cruiser, with more footage being released of her in the back of the car.

Throughout the horrifying footage Lisa can be heard struggling to breathe, and making noises in the back of the cruiser before Distasio radios other offers to say he ‘doesn’t know if she is faking it’ after she suffered the stroke.

He can then be seen off camera shaking Lisa and shouting ‘wake up’ several times before calling for more help after she fell silent.

In the final moments of the clip, an ambulance can be seen pulling up behind Lisa’s car to try and revive her.

Lisa’s family have said that they ‘can’t believe the way she was treated’, adding ‘she did not deserve to be treated like that, nobody does.’

They say that she was left physically disabled in August 2019 after suffering from her first stroke, but she was still mentally sound.

Her daughter-in-law August Boylan, a nurse, told WATE: ‘It’s totally irrelevant of how she got to where she was that morning, but that whole situation that played out for an extended period of time is horrible, absolutely horrible.

‘The police officers may not have done anything intentionally criminal to cause anything to happen to her, but they definitely were negligent and had no respect for human life, any basic needs, anything.

The horrific footage continues for another hour, showing officers trying to force her into the back of the van as they tell her she doesn’t have an inhaler

According to the DA’s office, Lisa died of natural causes and law enforcement interaction did not cause or contribute to her death

Another officer then tells her that he will ‘stuff her in’ if she doesn’t help, with Lisa crying out as they try to move her

‘You don’t have to be a medical professional to know what the signs of stroke are. And you can see that in her, you know, start to finish.

‘That is not somebody working themselves up like they said in there. That is not somebody faking it.

‘She, I mean, she said it herself, that she was dying, that she was having a stroke.’

On Tuesday, the Knox County District Attorney’s Office announced that no charges were being filed against the officers involved.

According to the DA’s office, Lisa died of natural causes and law enforcement interaction did not cause or contribute to her death.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said she had flown t to Knoxville from a nursing home in Rhode Island on February 4.

During the flight, she reported abdominal pain and was taken to Blount Memorial Hospital upon arrival, with the TBI confirming that she was discharged with constipation.

She sought additional treatment on February 4, where she was observed overnight and discharged but refused to leave the hospital meaning police were called.

Security at the hospital issued her a trespass warning, before officers decided to arrest her for criminal trespassing.

Knoxville Police say there is an internal investigation to determine if any department policies or procedures were violated, with the officers involved currently on paid leave.

In a statement they said: ‘The KPD extends its deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the family of Lisa Edwards.’

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