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Horrifying footage released by police shows a wheelchair-bound woman slurring her words and pleading with police as she is arrested for refusing to leave hospital, moments before she died of a stroke in the back of a police car. .
Knoxville police have released body camera video of the harrowing incident that occurred at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Tennessee on February 6.
Lisa Edwards, 60, was refusing to leave hospital and was arrested on trespassing charges when she died in the back of a police cruiser, minutes after telling police ‘they’re going to kill me’.
Footage shows Lisa being pulled over, gasping and gasping before telling officers she “can’t breathe.” Her skin grows grayer and her voice more slurred as she continues recording. The latter is a well-known symptom of a stroke.
Authorities released the one 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 that occurred at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Tennessee on February 6.
Lisa begins to tell an officer that she can’t go back to the hospital, and the officers struggle to get her into the back of the van before she says she needs to sit down.
The officers can be heard being rough with her, telling her to “help get her helped” as she begins to gasp and slur the words while using a hospital.
One policeman can be heard telling her that she “has been medically cleared” before another says “you didn’t have any breathing problems when you were here smoking a cigarette”.
Lisa is then told to ‘stop’ when she says ‘I’m going to pass out’, and the officer tells her ‘you’re going in there one way or another’.
The gruesome footage continues for another hour, showing officers trying to force her into the back of the van while being told she doesn’t have an inhaler.
Another officer then tells her that he will ‘put’ her in if she doesn’t help, and Lisa screams as they try to move her.
They then tell him he’s “getting more charges” and another says they’re “tired of your deadlift crap.”
Lisa is then told that she is being ‘ridiculous’, before protesting and saying ‘help me up oh please’ as the cops threaten to slam the door on her foot.
Lisa’s family have said they “can’t believe the way she was treated”, adding that “she didn’t deserve to be treated like this, no one does.”
Lisa Edwards, 60, was refusing to leave hospital and was arrested on trespassing charges when she died in the back of a police cruiser, minutes after telling police ‘they’re going to kill me’.
They say she became physically disabled in August 2019 after suffering her first stroke, but was still mentally healthy
She can then be heard saying ‘you’re going to kill me’ in her final moments, pleading for help before the footage cuts.
Police confirmed that Officer Timothy Distasio began transporting Lisa to the Roger Wilson Detention Center before stopping a car she was driving recklessly.
He then discovered that Lisa was unresponsive in the back seat of the squad car, and more footage of her in the back of the car was released.
Throughout the gruesome footage, Lisa can be heard gasping for breath and making noises in the back of the police car before Distasio radios in further offers to say he “don’t know if he’s faking it” after suffering the stroke. cerebral.
He can then be seen off-camera shaking Lisa and yelling “wake up” several times before calling for more help after she went silent.
In the final moments of the clip, an ambulance can be seen pulling up behind Lisa’s car to try to revive her.
Lisa’s family have said they “can’t believe the way she was treated”, adding that “she didn’t deserve to be treated like this, no one does.”
They say she became physically disabled in August 2019 after suffering her first stroke, but was still mentally healthy.
Her daughter-in-law August Boylan, a nurse, told her WATER: ‘It’s totally irrelevant how he got to where he was that morning, but that whole situation that played out over an extended period of time is horrible, absolutely horrible.
“Police officers may not have intentionally done anything criminal to cause something to happen to you, but they were definitely negligent and disrespectful of human life, basic needs, nothing.
The gruesome footage continues for another hour, showing officers trying to force her into the back of the van while telling her she doesn’t have an inhaler.
According to the prosecutor’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 ‘put’ her in if she doesn’t help, and Lisa screams as they try to move her.
‘You don’t have to be a medical professional to know what the signs of a stroke are. And you can see that in her, you know, through and through.
‘That’s not someone trying hard like they said there. That’s not someone 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 would be filed against the officers involved.
According to the prosecutor’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 he had flown 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 further treatment on February 4, where she was kept under observation overnight and released, but refused to leave the hospital, meaning the police were called.
Hospital security issued her a trespassing warning, before officers decided to arrest her for criminal trespassing.
Knoxville police say there is an internal investigation to determine if 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 heartfelt condolences to the family of Lisa Edwards.”