By John Reynolds
A pregnant woman who was
stunned by Springfield police with a Taser last year in the Best Buy parking
lot has filed a federal lawsuit against the city and two officers who arrested
her.
Lucinda White, 30, of
Springfield alleges that Officer Edward Higginson used excessive force and
falsely arrested her on March 30, 2013. Also accused of false arrest is Officer
Mark Cordes.
The lawsuit, filed in federal
court Wednesday, does not list a dollar amount for the damages being sought.
Police said White was involved
in a minor car accident in the Best Buy lot, 3193 S. Veterans Parkway.
Frederick Thomas, White's boyfriend, who was not involved in the crash, started
yelling and cursing at the other driver and the officer taking the report,
police said.
Thomas allegedly refused to
calm down, so the responding officer requested backup. Nearly a dozen squad
cars responded. At the same time, police said, White became angry and
interfered with officers.
When officers attempted to
arrest White, she allegedly resisted, prompting an officer to apply a
one-second “drive stun” to White's thigh.
A “drive stun” is when an
officer holds the Taser against someone and applies a shock. It does not
involve firing the projectiles and is intended to cause pain without
incapacitating the person.
A few days after the initial
arrest, police reviewed the incident and determined that the department's
policy on Taser use was not violated.
White was arrested and is
facing a charge of resisting a police officer. That case is pending in Sangamon
County Circuit Court.
White's lawsuit paints a
different picture of the arrest.
The lawsuit states that White,
who was eight months' pregnant, was “acting in a peaceful and non-threatening
manner” when Higginson “forcefully grabbed White, tasered White and forcefully
caused White to fall to the pavement.”
“The force used upon the person
of plaintiff, White, who was visibly pregnant with child, was unnecessary and
unreasonable,” the lawsuit contends.
The lawsuit adds that the
Springfield Police Department has a “pervasive and unconstitutional custom,
practice and policy of allowing and condoning the use of excessive force by its
police officers against pregnant women.”
The suit seeks compensatory and
punitive damages as well as attorneys' fees, costs and litigation expenses.
City spokesman Nathan Mihelich
said city policy prohibits commenting on pending litigation.
White's attorney is Michael J.
Goldberg of Chicago.