Video: Police bodyslam 80-year-old woman in Columbus, OH

O.K. let's have all the excuses for the polices behavior from all the negative critics who frequently visits this site. True the 80 plus year old lady had a knife, but she was also lucky to get away with just a bloody head. If she had been younger she would probably been shot immediately.

If you have to subdue an 80 year old woman by bodyslamming her, then you don't need to be a cop.

I'm a 40 year old man this year and I thought I heard it all but, when you can justify that kind of behavior on a woman in her 80's then I feel we are still in the same place we was the year of my birth. Man kind is supposed to progress but this is clearly regression. We have no hope for piece in America. None. I don't think it's worth even trying anymore. That female pig needs to get her mother body slammed.

Police State America 2009! Citizens fight back and when the police shoot, SHOOT BACK! Defend the constitution.

I really hope her family considers suing the city. This police officer needs to lose her job. Wrong is just wrong. This lady was clearly frail. She was using a walker to assist in moving, and not even able to move fast. She was only dangerous to herself. Any intelligent human being can see this woman may be suffering from some illiness. I have seen true criminals handled in a better way. The problem has always been that we hire the dumbest (both black, white and any other group) people to serve a police officers. And, we expect great results.

in tears. this is shameful.

Regardless of who did what, the Columbus, Ohio Police Department was not involved. CPD have always worn white uniform shirts. The badge is wrong and so is the shoulder patch. It may have been one of the suburban departments, some of them seem to change uniforms once a year.....or it may have been rent-a-cops. They have proliferated rapidly lately. How do i know? I spent thirty years of my life on that department. I'm not claiming sainthood for my department, we're just a bunch of humans but at least don't blame us for something when we weren't even there.

Lloyd...I believe the young man said it was the Whitehall police dept, not Columbus. "Another case of excessive force". If you can't get a knife out an 84 year old's hand without body slamming her...you are unfit to serve in the capacity of a peace officer. She could have been talked down, approached from behind...and the list goes on. In less than 20 seconds this cop performs a take down. I hope she is removed from the force...truly! This is another example of how little black life is valued here in America. I doubt this would have went down that way if this were a white elderly woman. To the family, sue their as*ses and make sure you share this clip with as many people as possible.

where are the cowards in baggy pants totin' 9 m/m when you need them? I know... to busy shooting each others for a cell phone

After reviewing the first two minutes of the tape, several things are clear: 1. A female officer responded to the elderly woman, 2. The elderly woman refuses to release the knife from the 46-second mark until at least the 66-second mark (i.e 1:06), 3. The female officer uses both of her hands to release the knife from the right hand of the woman, and 4. The female officer restrains both of her hands after releasing the knife from her possession. These critical observations would suggest to me that the situation was handled as best as the conditions allowed. I am unclear as to how the call was relayed to the responding officer, but a takedown may have been warranted if the nature of the call suggested that an attack had already occurred. Some reports are suggesting that the elderly woman did in fact assualt a child before the police arrived. IF this is true, then how might you have felt if you were the parent of this child? The questions should not focus on "what if it was your grandmother?" or "what if the police officer handled it differently?" The ONLY question is this: WHERE WAS THE ELDERLY WOMAN's CARETAKER? Also, let me make this minor suggestion in viewing the tape in the future: MUTE IT! Most of the reaction is uninformed and unfortunately ignorant. I was absolutely disgusted by the responses that were recorded. Furthermore, the allegations of racism are laughable at best. (Or in the world of texting, LOL!) To the cartaker: SHAME ON YOU!!! It was poor judgment to leave a LOVED one in the car ALONE while you went into a store. Im not sure how much information the police department has gathered on the case as of yet, but I hope the evidence is OVERWHELMING and leads to your arrest! Smile :-)

I don't care how many excuses you use to justify the polices behavior, if you have to use that type of force to take down an 84 year old woman and break her head open on the cement causing blood to flow then as an officer of the law you aren't doing your job correctly. Racism permeates this entire society in most or many instances so therefore I wouldn't be so quick to rule it out only because I saw an officer of the law on You Tube shove an old white woman to the ground and use a tazer gun on her. Both instances could be handled much differently.

UFGT, the caretaker was detained because she was trying to tend to her mother's bleeding head...I guess you missed that part.

As bloody pathetic as this is, the most hilarious part is the cameraman's self-introduction to youtube.

Straight Comedy Central

This video is very disturbing to me. I don’t know what the protocol is for an old lady but I would think pepper spray would have done the trick. Maybe a stun gun or something. She was obviously a crazy old lady and clearly a threat. If your little children were walking through the parking lot with you and she was grabbing them with a knife what would you do? Risk a life to save a life? I’m not sure there is a good resolution to this when she did not drop the knife.

This is America, the police State. No longer home of the free or the brave, just home of Cop Cowards and their victims. The woman was probably suffering from hardening of the arteries/dementia. Where is the compassion? I can't stand cops these days. ANY of them.

[BR>Unfortunately the citizen camera man did not get the shot when the officer took the woman down -- or at least I didn't see it. I couldn't see exactly how she took her down.

That said, on the one hand I don't fault the police for doing their job in gettiing the knife away from the woman. On the other hand however I do fault them for the manner in which it was done. Considering the age and frailty of this old woman, walking with a cane, I don't think it was appropriate or necessary to knock her down to the concrete.

As I was watching the tape I was thinking how I would gone about getting the knife. As old and frail as the woman appeared to be and with two officers on the scene, I think the female officer should have continued to engage the woman from the front while signaling to her partner to slip around the back, grab the woman's arm from behind, and take the knife. I think the woman was weakly enough to have taken the knife from her with busting her head or anyone for that matter getting hurt.

My problem with the police is it seems no matter what the situation they have real difficulty calibrating their use of force in responding to the problem. A few years back there was a situation here in L.A. with an elderly black homeless woman wielding a screwdriver. Again the woman was frail -- something like 5'3" 105 pounds. They two young, physically fit officers verbally commanded her to drop the screwdriver. When she refused to drop it and supposedly lunged at them they shot and killed her. No attempt whatsoever to approach the situation any other way.

Come on the police are to protect and serve I know being a ex cop there are better ways of taking down a little old lady with a knife which a police officer can talk a woman of her caliber to surrender sure she probably suffered from dementia but come on there are better tactics in handling this yes execssive force was used you use this type on hard criminals. Almost reminds me of a mental man with a butter knife gun down in Cininnati Ohio, officers use your head not all things, or tactics used in the academy needs to be used on elder women. I hope President Obama sees this and hopefully put an end to excessive force. They took her down like a Navy Seal operator.

So yes this looks bad, but from up close. If you're a cop you have to think of the safety of others and then yourself, it's one of the most thankless jobs. If you have a suspect like this you have to put them down and hard, one because how do you really know she's an elderly 80 year old woman, because she has a cane? Cops have been fooled before. People who pretend to be blind to people who abuse wheelchairs, anything to get out of trouble, so the cane makes no difference, it's a prop. Secondly she had and knife, NO ONE knew what she was capable of, she could've been a retired knife thrower or an ex-cop herself, knowing anything like that can't be known upon sight and especially not age. And yes, being put down hard got her a bloody head, it could've been a lot worse, they spared her. Really think about this people.

So yes this looks bad, but from up close. If you're a cop you have to think of the safety of others and then yourself, it's one of the most thankless jobs. If you have a suspect like this you have to put them down and hard, one because how do you really know she's an elderly 80 year old woman, because she has a cane? Cops have been fooled before. People who pretend to be blind to people who abuse wheelchairs, anything to get out of trouble, so the cane makes no difference, it's a prop. Secondly she had and knife, NO ONE knew what she was capable of, she could've been a retired knife thrower or an ex-cop herself, knowing anything like that can't be known upon sight and especially not age. And yes, being put down hard got her a bloody head, it could've been a lot worse, they spared her. Really think about this people.

So yes this looks bad, but from up close. If you're a cop you have to think of the safety of others and then yourself, it's one of the most thankless jobs. If you have a suspect like this you have to put them down and hard, one because how do you really know she's an elderly 80 year old woman, because she has a cane? Cops have been fooled before. People who pretend to be blind to people who abuse wheelchairs, anything to get out of trouble, so the cane makes no difference, it's a prop. Secondly she had and knife, NO ONE knew what she was capable of, she could've been a retired knife thrower or an ex-cop herself, knowing anything like that can't be known upon sight and especially not age. And yes, being put down hard got her a bloody head, it could've been a lot worse, they spared her. Really think about this people.

The officer in the video did everything she was supposed to do in such a situation. The old woman was unresponsive, had already cut herself, was threatening the officer and may have already assaulted someone else. The proper response in such a situation is a take down. You don't wrestle with someone who has a knife nor do you try to grab it from them. You also don't pepper spray them because then you have a blind person swinging a knife wildly in parking lot full of people. Tasing an elderly person is even worse as the woman would have hit the ground much harder. The officer has no choice in this situation but to disarm the woman. The fact that she hit her head is a shame but I think the officer reacted properly. Once she was down they didn't cuff her. They restrained her as gently as possible and awaited medical assistance. This woman's daughter on the other hand locked her mother, who she knows suffers from dementia, in a car with a steak knife which the woman, who couldn't figure out how to undo her seatbelt, then used to cut her seatbelt (and herself in the process). She acted quite irresponsibly.

This is crazy. There is no excuse for action like this. A police officer is tranined better than this. You have to use common since. Something should be done about this because it happens to offten.

H. Smart, who cares? The daughter left her elderly mother ALONE. What part of that is not clear to you? It was poor judgment on behalf of the daughter to leave her mother in the car. Most of the responses are oddly polarized toward the police officer's resolution of the situation. The caretaker is responsible for the outcome. Point. Blank. Period.

Where was SWAT when you needed them? An 84 year old lady, with dementia or Alzheimer disease, hobbling menacingly with a cane, swinging a steak knife indiscriminately is a serious threat to a slow moving public. It’s funny until someone loses an eye! I mean, what on earth is more frightening than a cornered octogenarian intent on escape? The officer risked life and limb in the conduct of her duties and should be commended for her truly remarkable restraint in not using deadly force in this situation.

UFGT2009 well stated. H.Smart change ur name ur an idiot. Ur just another race card bandwagon jumping commenting moron. If ur so experienced in the proceedures for taking down knife weilding crazed geriatrics, by all means start patroling the streets for us. Thought not. Truth be told u would have done the same thing. I would have tackled the woman if she was endangering my kids as well. Let the cops do their job. All in all the real moral of the story here is; although fairly reasonable prices for crappy merchandise can be found, avoid shopping at Wal-Mart. Peace, I'm out!

I think that is the most horrible thing I have seen since 9/11. I am a 60 year White woman, and I have a 92 year old mother with Dementia and It made me sick at my stomach to watch what they did to that woman (knife or no knife)! That sound of her head hitting the ground. That cop needs to be arrested for assault. That kind of stuff should never happen in America that's Iran control. What goes around comes around. We all sit at a round table, maybe her mother will be sick and wandering around and some cop slam her to the ground and bust her head open. Awful,awful.

If the guy recording this thought he could do better why didn't he. I sure there was plenty of time before the officer got there that one of these loud mouth spectators could have done something. But they didn't just the guts just a lot of tough talk. Talk is cheap, even a woman of 84 can inflict serious injury to the officer. Could have this been handled differently, perhaps. Don't criticize unless you were there and if you were than shame on you if you didn't do anything but try to incite the crowd.

Another bystander who thinks he could have done better but didn't intervene. I've worked with Alzheimer's patients for years and know first hand that they can become very aggressive and violent regardless of their age and size when they are confused. My first question would be where was the caretaker for this woman. Why aren't they arresting them for elderly neglect? As for the way it was done, there may have been a better way, but I am not one to put myself in anothers shoes before I've walked in them. This guy shooting this video was an opportunistic coward who wanted his 15 minutes, regardless of how they came.

This is awful, I wonder if this had been an 80 year old of a different nationally,would the action have been the same. I would love to see a survey done on my question.

I only could cry watching this, how can we live in such a hateful world. This could be our mother, grandmother, or aunt. Please do not let this go people.

They truely did act "stupidly" this time. No questions. It is despicable. I work in a mental health facility and even I could have retrieved that knife with no physical violence.

No question, this time the police did act "stupidly" and in a despicable manner.

In my area police were taking applicants for training.They turned one man down because his I Q test was too high. They said he was too smart to be a policeman!!!

From my experience with the police, it seems that they expect to be obeyed instantly regardless of circumstances. They take any disagreement to be a personal affront. If they say "jump," they expect you to jump instantly.

The woman was obviously very frail and able to walk only very slowly with her cane. It would have been more reasonable for the policewoman to engage her in friendly conversation then gently lead her away.

Obviously the woman's caregiver was inexcusably negligent. If she had to take the woman shopping with her, she could have had a wheel chair in the van and taken the woman into the store with her in the wheel chair. And, if no wheel chair was available, that would be another sign of negligence. Obviously a woman that frail needs to have a wheel chair available for situations in which it is impossible to walk the required distance.

To what extent the policewoman should have been blamed is unclear. She may have been a rent-a-cop of limited mental capability and not adequately trained to deal with such situations.

I live in Columbus in fact right down the street from that Walmart. Because of the out pour of response from everywhere channel 4 did an update on the elderly ladies condition. She has had to have 10 stitches, she has a broken wrist, and a possible hip fracture which at 84 probably will never heal correctly. My personal opinion that is considered excessive especially when the elderly lady was walking on a cane she probably just could have been pushed over she was already unstable in her stance.

assault my kids with a cane or knife and whether your 8 or 80 your going to get knocked down. it's comical to hear everyone say i could have taken that knife and cops are stupid....right, try it some time stud. take a ride with an officer and see who the real idiots of this world are and you'll quickly see it isn't them. they are there day in and day out to handle EVERY situation you can't! i'm sorry this had to happen this way and i hope see is ok but make no mistake the officer handled it correctly.

So glad there are so many people hear that know what to do. Maybe you all should have been there to save the day. A knife is a knife. I am sure the officer wanted to go home that night. The "body slam" didn't seem that aggressive. Others ask what about pepper spray: maybe the old lady could have choked on it and died. What about a tazer...heart condition? Hmmmm...what else. Yes a gun or baton? But the officer didn't use them. So the officer chose instead to go hand to hand with a (old) lady with a knife. What would you do since you all have the answers and have thought about this in your armchairs.

The police in this situation did their jobs. They did not "beat up on" this woman as the videographer taking the footage said. The female officer calmly approached suspect who was openly displaying a knife. The suspect refused to co-operate with the officer and drop the knife. The officer had every right to take her down. And I don't care if the woman was 84 or not. The suspect is responsible for her actions and should not be allowed to do whatever she wishes, including ignoring the law because of her age.

I am a 66 year old white man.I just watched the video of this 80 year old women getting taken down to the pavement in ohio.It shocked me! I have to admit,that during my lifetime I have been a predjudis person from time to time,but thanks to this video ,it has change my life. I cannot believe my eyes of what this police officer did.I know that there are circumstances that the law has to be aware of for their protection, and also others,but this was sickning.If I were there ,I would probally be dead now,because I would have attacked that idotic policeman.I feel so sorry for what he did to her.I do not think that he handled that situation to the best of his ability.I am disabled from cancer, but I would have beat that officer`s ass the best I could,or at least tried.He is a sickning piece of garbage,and needs to be thrown out of the police force.That dirty son of a bi%%%.I am sorry to all the black people that I have accused of being racist against the police. This man seemed to proove to the world that they take a little to much advantage of their badge.This is SICK,SICK,SICK.

Did the policewoman receive any reprimand at all? She should have been arrested. I am scared of every policeman I see, even before this video.

May God have Mercy on all of you who think that this was the proper way to handle an 80 year old woman! My ten year old could have done a better job and with compassion!!! The officer had already removed the knife from the woman! She should have simply handcuffed her and put her in the squad car. There was simply no reason to slam her on the ground causing blunt force trauma to her skull. If this was my loved one I would sue the entire force! It wouldn't surprise me if this lady does not survive. Anyone have an update on this? I'm sure this lady being 80 and all has been through a similar situation in her life. When will we see the change?

Lets look at the video from another angle, we have a woman with a knife what should of been better if she tazered or maced the woman then people would of complained about that, I think the officer was very brave to remove the weapon using her bare hands and control the woman. I see posts on here from others who are complaining because of her age, what if the woman had a gun, or something worse, the law is the law no one is above it, she brandished a deadly weapon as a civilian. if that woman came near me or my kids with a knife in a parking lot my instinct would be to protect, i dont care how old she is. People need to stop bashing the police for doing their job to protect and serve. I didnt see anyone attempt to disarm her before the police arrived, including the so called care giver who lacked the responsibility to control the woman to start with

I believe the officer should be prosecuted for assault and given the same punishment that a civilian would receive for this type of brutal crime. I'm extremely sick and tired of the lack of compassion that people have (especially police, hospital staff and nursing home employees)for elderly people suffering from mental disorders, emotional problems and the like. PLEASE, put yourself in their place and behave appropriately. They are frightened and don't understand what's happening. They obviously don't deserve to endure any more pain than they already have. I watched the video on Youtube and heard the officer say to the crowd "you take it away from her then." The main reason a civilian wouldn't try to get it away from her is that they are afraid of hurting her. GET REAL LAZY COPS!!!! Some bystanders are probably also afraid of being arrested and prosecuted for attempting to help. SO, they rely on the police to do the job properly. If the police are mentally and emotionally incapable of handling this type of situation, what can we do??!! I think anybody with a heart would be more concerned for that woman's own safety than anything else. Even a fool can see that she was not a threat.

i think she got what she deserved. you break the law. you pay the penalty. good job officer. hell id give her a medal for taking down that old hag. GOOD BLESS OUR POLICE. :)

If you ever saw what a knife can do to a person, might understand the action, regardless of age. However, with two officers, they could have easily grabbed her arm from behind and disarmed her with minimal danger. And the yahoos saying she had a knife but they didn't have to slam her, why didn't they take the knife before the police arrived?

The police in Henderson, Nevada [suburb of Las Vegas] shot and killed a woman a few years ago who lunged at them with a steak knife. Police in Las Vegas last year shot with an AR-15 rifle and killed an unarmed man as he knelt in his pitch dark bathroom after officers broke down his door. The guy was a small time marijuana dealer who'd made several sales to undercover narcotics officers. The police officer who requested the search warrant, Bryan Yant lied on his request and confused the suspect with another man with the same name who was seven years older, 100 pounds lighter and ten inches shorter than the suspect. In July of last year, brave Las Vegas police officers shot and killed West Point graduate, Erik Scott as he left a Costco store after a panicked call from a Costco employee saying that Sccott was "waving a gun and acting erratically." In fact he was doing neither. Scott was shot seven times, four times in the back as he lay on the ground. One of the officers, Kevin Mendiola has been fired for subsequently providing a firearm to an ex-convict. The behavior of this officer is outrageous and egregiously violent; but it might have been fatal if she'd lived out here in the land of the dollar bill.

from good old germany with strength: ACAB

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