Personal Injury Law

Deputy in Trouble for Dumping Man Out of Wheelchair

By Jenny Albano

A Hillsborough County Deputy was caught on tape dumping a quadriplegic man out of his wheelchair when he was being booked into jail. There were three other supervisors in plain view of the incident, but they did nothing.

Investigators say Deputy Charlotte Marshall Jones is suspended without pay after the January 29 incident, which involved 32-year-old Brian Sterner, who is a quadriplegic. Video shows Deputy Jones dumping Sterner out of his wheelchair and onto the floor while she is booking him into the Hillsborough County Jail. The tape also shows the deputy then searching Sterner as he lay on the floor.

Sterner's arrest was from charges of him fleeing and eluding police enforcement after an incident on October 25, 2007. Also, he was blocking an intersection. Sterner is in permanent need of his wheelchair after a wrestling accident that occurred when he was 18.

Full post as published by Tampa Bay Personal Injury Law on February 13, 2008 (boomark / email).