An East Chicago man was laying in a coma on Thursday after being arres

[Queen Prawn]

http://www.nbc5.com/news/9772716/detail.html

 

 

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. -- An East Chicago man was laying in a coma on Thursday after being arrested by police.

 

Jerome Clement was having a diabetic seizure, family and friends told NBC5's Amy Jacobson, but East Chicago police said they thought the 39-year-old Clement was drunk and belligerent, so they arrested him. Clement, who has been diabetic since he was 11 years old, had a heart attack while he was being arrested, and was on life support.

 

Clement's family said they would take Clement off of life support this weekend, and said they were considering their legal options, and a Lake County judge has already ordered all of the evidence in this case to be preserved.

 

Last Friday, Clement was in his car when someone called the police claiming a man was passed out and needed help. Jacobson reported that when police said they arrived, they allegedly smelled alcohol and claimed Clement was kicking them and resisting arrest.

 

Phyllis Jordan, Clement's grandmother, said it was impossible for her grandson to have been drunk.

 

"He doesn't go any place except to stay home," she said. "He does not drink. Never in the last 20 years."

 

The family's attorney said he believed police mistook his diabetic episode for belligerent drunkenness.

 

"We just believe this is something that shouldn't have happened," said Kevin Smith. "We believe that hopefully that, as I think the chief of police in East Chicago said today, that they should have had a class on this."

 

Clement, who was a welder in the area, has had seizures at work, friends said.

 

"He couldn't control himself and stuff like that," said Christopher Lesinewski. "He fell to the ground and he was shaking and everything else like that. Somebody ran and they got like a few Tootsie Rolls and stuff like that and put them in his mouth."

 

Clement has lived with his grandmother since his mother passed away, and both have looked out for one another.

 

"My grandson means the world to me," Jordan said. "He takes care of me, I take care of him. We're like two people born together."

 

Late Thursday afternoon, East Chicago Police Chief Angelo Machuca Jr. in a statement said "As police officers, we are confronted with many scenarios in which difficult decisions must be made within seconds. I will stand by the decisions made by the officers who responded to this call."

 

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Had Sgt Russell not recognized what was happening to my dad a few months ago, this could have been him.

 

I hope these officers get the training they need so someone else will get the help they so desperately (and quickly) need.

 

My prayers and thoughts go out to the Clement family.

[Texsox]

my heart goes out to everyone in this. I doubt the police officers were malicious, they made a terrible mistake, and will have to live with that.