September 22, 2009 -A Merced, California man whose legs are amputated says police used a stun gun on him twice and violently manhandled him even though he was unarmed.
Two uniformed officers were responding to a reported domestic disturbance at the residence of Gregory Williams, a double amputee who lost his legs to a condition that led to gangrene.
He and his wife had apparently been arguing, and when officers arrived they were both out in front of their apartment. Williams, who had his two-year-old daughter on his lap, was told to go back inside, and reportedly complied with their request. After speaking to his wife, an officer and a Child Protective Services worker approached him, and demanded that he surrender the child.
That’s when things began to get a bit of control. Williams claims that the worker took his daughter from his lap, to which he replied: “‘What are you doing? I haven’t done anything!” He also says that the only resisting he might have done was to hold onto his wheelchair so that he wouldn’t fall to the ground.
After that Williams claims he was tasered twice at close range, causing him to fall from his wheelchair just outside of his home. In the process, he says his pants fell down, exposing his genitals. Williams says he heard his collarbone cracking as they wrestled him out of his chair. He was handcuffed and left lying on the ground for several minutes in front of a crowd of angry witnesses, who the officers described as “hostile.”
Williams then spent almost a week behind bars, but no charges have been filed. The police department’s internal affairs investigators are now looking into the incident.
After leaving jail, Williams asked reporters: “How much resisting am I gonna do with no legs, no feet? How much resisting am I gonna do?”
His brother-in-law said “The hardest part was just watching it, and waiting for a badge number when the whole thing was done.”
The police department has declined further comment, pending the internal investigation.
