Grandfather visiting Alabama from India stopped by police while taking walk, left partly paralyzed (Huntsville: houses, transfer)

[johnrex62]

I am sympathetic to the gentleman's plight, but also to the situation the officer was in. Perhaps he could have handled it more gently, but he was responding to a suspicion person call and was facing a non-cooperative suspect. Regardless of the reason for the communication issues, the officer's obligation to the community is to ensure the suspect is not engaged in a crime when they are reported by the public.

The quote in the headline says the man suffered a "fused vertebrae" as a result of the incident. Pardon my lack of a medical degree, but isnt a fused vertebrae the result of untreated compression over a long period of time? Would the more likely result of being forcefully thrown to the ground be a fractured vertebrae? It is most probable that he had an existing condition that the incident exacerbated (swelling of the existing fused vertebra).

There is no black and white right or wrong here as I can see. there is "blame" for both sides of the issue and consideration of both parties issues would deescalate the tensions all around.

[oakparkdude]

Not defending the cops behavior but police in our country are much more likely to encounter citizens with concealed lethal weapons than in other countries.

[NYescapee]

Originally Posted by johnrex62

The quote in the headline says the man suffered a "fused vertebrae" as a result of the incident. Pardon my lack of a medical degree, but isnt a fused vertebrae the result of untreated compression over a long period of time? Would the more likely result of being forcefully thrown to the ground be a fractured vertebrae? It is most probable that he had an existing condition that the incident exacerbated (swelling of the existing fused vertebra).

The man had to undergo surgery to fuse his vertebrae. Being slammed to the ground with his hands behind his back damaged his spine and he was (partially, hopefully temporarily) paralyzed. They fused the vertebrae to minimize the damage. He was fine when he got here. Now he's not.

[LCTMadison]

Originally Posted by guxu

I think the family said the old guy was looking in his own windows/garages. And why do you think it is common to look in other people's house in India?

I don't....that is the point. Do you? It could be? Who knows? That is a different culture. Bottom line is someone saw him looking into garages and did not recognize him and thought it was suspicious and called the police. If they didn't recognize him then obviously they would not know he was staying at that house. I'm sure each person who has posted probably would have done the same thing if they saw someone they did not know or recognize doing that in their neighborhood.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by johnrex62

There is no black and white right or wrong here as I can see. there is "blame" for both sides of the issue and consideration of both parties issues would deescalate the tensions all around.

I am curious, what do you think the old man did that was wrong that can be cause for "blame?"

[TN2HSV]

well, I live in the neighborhood, and if it had been ME who saw the old man looking around, I would ask if I could help him (or have my husband do it), and once we discovered we couldn't communicate with each other, I would have knocked on my next-door neighbor's door and asked one of them if the man "belonged" to them and if not, if they could communicate with him.

Our Indian neighbors are some of the nicest of ALL people in the neighborhood. I think part of the issue is people not getting out to know their neighbors anymore. If the person who called knew their neighbors, they might be clued into the fact that they had a visitor. NOT that it gives them, or anyone else, a reason to go looking into others' houses. But they might've had a different reaction than to immediately call the police.

Maybe I give people too much benefit of the doubt, but the way I look at it....he's an old man, obviously Indian. India is incredibly densely populated. He probably doesn't realize the concept of personal space, as we expect it, and didn't know it would alarm someone to be that close to his/her house. Or maybe he was looking at all the CRAP people store in their garages and marveling at how much we Americans love our stuff

It's tragic all the way around, but no matter WHAT, I will never be convinced that the cop acted in a reasonable manner in this situation. As someone else said...sounds like a hot-head, paranoid, control freak.

[bmrisko]

No offense, but 57 years old isn't that old...I love how the media is portraying the victim to be something like an 85 year old grandfather using a walker. I can't choose a side since I don't have all the facts, but anytime I have been in a foreign country, I make sure to at least know a few various phrases in the native language of the country I am visiting. Yes, the language barrier was probably the biggest issue and it doesn't help that it appears that this man wouldn't take his hands out of his pockets as instructed by the officer. Given the condition of the victim, it seems like the officer may have acted with excessive force or the victim may have had an existing condition, however I wasn't present and don't have all the facts, so I won't elaborate or speculate any further. Hopefully the victim makes a full recovery.

[LCTMadison]

They just moved in to your neighborhood TN2HSV. Probably no one has really had a chance to get to know them yet or knew who they were.

People in my neighborhood call the cops on solicitors/unknowns all the time....but we had a rash of burglaries that was happening in broad daylight a couple of years ago so people still keep an alert eye out. They were "walking" thru the neighborhood at different times noting when people would leave for work and when someone returns and they hit the houses they knew from their "walks" were vacant most of the day. I used to see them out a lot and I was shocked it was them because I always just assumed they were getting exercise.

That's why when I am home alone during the day I NEVER answer my door....ever. I don't even answer when Waynes comes by cause they don't need to enter the house to do what they need to do. For me I guess, its a safety thing. My neighbor doesn't either so if I'm going over there I always text her to let her know and she does the same for me.

What it is in reality is a very unfortunate set of circumstances that led to something that should not have ended the way it did and was handled extremely poorly. I am sure the neighbor who did call probably feels terrible and would not have had he/she known who he was and where he was staying.....but bottom line is apparently he/she didn't.

[Tourian]

Maybe he wasn't looking through anything at all and that was the excuse the 911 caller used to get Madison to roll on him.

[raj kapoor]

Actually the whole story has gone viral and what one reads about it on the internet is no longer a reliable version.
I can assure you that a man of his age from India does not behave with police in India in the same way that he should in the USA. There is a natural combative rapport with police in India as they don't follow rules to the letter.
If ANYONE becomes combative and/or physical with police in the USA they will most likely be 'taken down'.
LCT is correct that home owners are going to look with suspicion at anyone wandering around the neighborhood. And let me tell you that curiosity is an Indian character trait. Perhaps a sad incident, but even more so that we always assume the worst.
Most likely a misunderstanding, but I note how the 'family attorney' has already gotten the code phrases like 'temporary paralasys' in there.

This story smells very much, and it is very bad that many people want to make it hard for LEO's to be able to deal with people who might be brown. Suggesting that one segment of society has to be treated with kid gloves is indeed a racist view.