Ohio police probed after man screaming 'I'm paraplegic' dragged from car

US police are investigating video showing a black man being dragged from his car by officers as he repeatedly screams "I'm paraplegic".

Bodycam footage shows officers stopping Clifford Owensby in Dayton, Ohio, last month and asking him to step out of his car so they can search it for drugs.

Mr Owensby, 39, refuses, saying he does not have use of his legs.

The officers insist he must get out and then pull him from the vehicle by his hair and arms as he calls for help.

The Dayton Police Department says it is now investigating the incident that took place on 30 September.

Authorities say the officers stopped Mr Owensby because he was driving away from a house suspected of hosting involvement in drugs. Police say they found a bag of cash containing $22,450 (£16,500) in the car.

Mr Owensby has not been charged over any drug-related offences.

During the incident, Mr Owensby repeatedly refuses requests to leave the car, although officers do say they will help him out.

Mr Owensby asks an officer to call in a "white shirt", meaning a superior.

"Here's the thing, I'm going to pull you out and then I'll call a white shirt," an officer replies.

As his frustration increases, he says: "You can co-operate and get out of the car or I'll drag you out of the car. Do you see your two options here?"

Dayton's mayor Nan Whaley described the footage as "very concerning".

Civil rights groups say they are also looking into the incident.

"To pull this man out of the car, by his hair - a paraplegic - is totally unacceptable, inhumane and sets a bad light on our great city of Dayton, Ohio," Derrick Foward, of the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told the Washington Post.

A paraplegic person is unable to voluntarily move lower parts of the body.

Some have defended the officers' actions.

Jerome Dix, president of Dayton Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 44, said they had "followed the law, their training and departmental policies".

"Sometimes the arrest of noncompliant individuals is not pretty, but is a necessary part of law enforcement to maintain public safety," Mr Dix told the Dayton Daily News.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58869865

 

[murdered meat bag]

Police say they found a bag of cash containing $22,450 (£16,500) in the car.

Glad they just glanced over this part. There's legit reasons why he'd have cash in the car. but just mentioning it off hand is lazy.

 

[NigKid]

Let's be honest, that's pretty funny

 

[JohnDoe]

Notice that the article never actually confirms that this jogger is paraplegic. Not a single direct statement, just his claims of being paralyzed presented as fact. Anybody want to take bets on how soon we find out this was a ploy?

 

[Johan Schmidt]

At this point the nigger could be a cripple and I wouldn't care. Learn to walk or eat shit negro.

 

[ShortBusDriver]

Notice that the article never actually confirms that this jogger is paraplegic. Not a single direct statement, just his claims of being paralyzed presented as fact. Anybody want to take bets on how soon we find out this was a ploy?

The article also doesn't explain what their probable cause was for stopping him in the first place.

If you watch the body camera footage and the statement put out by the police department they say it's because he was "Leaving a known drug house" which is neither a crime nor a probable cause for a traffic stop.

The only thing they reference is his tint is too dark, and maybe it is. But in most states that's a secondary offense and cannot be the primary reason for a traffic stop.

 

[round robin]

Glad they just glanced over this part. There's legit reasons why he'd have cash in the car. but just mentioning it off hand is lazy.

lmao, there are not many legit reasons to have $20k in your car

 

[Chocolate Wombat]

Mr Owensby, 39, refuses, saying he does not have use of his legs.

So...how was he driving if he can't use his legs? If he had some kind of special gear in the car it seems like the article would have mentioned it.

 

[KiwiFuzz]

Apparently the rehab for paraplegics is full of joggers who got shot but didn't die.

 

[round robin]

Notice that the article never actually confirms that this jogger is paraplegic. Not a single direct statement, just his claims of being paralyzed presented as fact. Anybody want to take bets on how soon we find out this was a ploy?

The cops would have reacted differently if this nigger had a disability license plate. I'm gonna guess he didn't have one either because he's not disabled or because he's a drug dealing nigger and swaps plates often. Probably both.

 

[TowinKarz]

lmao, there are not many legit reasons to have $20k in your car

There may be legit reasons, but, it's not common, and you can't deny un-commonality being a building block of probable cause, along with leaving a known drug house, yeah, doesn't prove anything, but the fact it's a known drug house means a personal vehicle leaving probably wasn't there to fix the pipes.

 

[gaystoner]

So...how was he driving if he can't use his legs? If he had some kind of special gear in the car it seems like the article would have mentioned it.

Yea this whole thing is hilarious.

 

[Mealy Mouth Spittle]

Was he alone in the car? Did the drug dealers offer curbside pick up?

Seems like the cops could have witnessed him getting drugs if he couldn't walk and had to get it delivered to the car. Or did he wheel himself into the house? If that's the case, the cops should have known he couldn't get out of the car on his own and in that case, they should have known better than to drag him out like that if for no other reason than optics.

 

[Chocolate Wombat]

Yea this whole thing is hilarious.

View attachment 2615897

I'd really love to see the bodycam video. I strongly suspect he didn't have anything like this in the car.

 

[Cpl. Long Dong Silver]

If he wasn't already paraplegic the cops should have made the nigger into one

 

[round robin]

 

[JohnDoe]

So...how was he driving if he can't use his legs? If he had some kind of special gear in the car it seems like the article would have mentioned it.

The cops would have reacted differently if this nigger had a disability license plate

Typically paraplegics use vans because getting in and out of a sedan with a wheelchair by yourself is essentially impossible. On top of that you need a custom control set with hand brake and acceleration on the wheel. It's a pretty standard package that is instantly recognizable.

I see a driver in a low slung sedan claiming to be wheelchair bound, I'm suspicious immediately.

 

[NerdShamer]

If he wasn't already paraplegic the cops should have made the nigger into one

Well, he's wearing blue, which would make him an Crip. Plus, he's an actual crip, so it checks out.

 

[Fomo Hoire]

The cops would have reacted differently if this nigger had a disability license plate. I'm gonna guess he didn't have one either because he's not disabled or because he's a drug dealing nigger and swaps plates often. Probably both.

Agreed. Him not having one is weird. Seriously, how does a paraplegic not have handicap plates?

I thought normal people tried to stretch the definition of disabled to get them because legally enforced vip parking is convenient, so it's not like he wouldn't want to get the plates. Is that just a TV Funnies meme?

I also think it's possible to get those plates even if you are able bodied but you regularly chaperone a handicapped person, so getting those plates probably errs on the side of leniency/benefit of the doubt.

 

[JohnDoe]

I also think it's possible to get those plates even if you are able bodied but you regularly chaperone a handicapped person, so getting those plates probably errs on the side of leniency/benefit of the doubt.

You can for sure, and in that case it would make sense to have a sedan. The able bodied person is driving, able to help transfer the passenger from chair to seat, and pack/unpack the wheelchair in the trunk. That's pretty given and practical for family members of someone elderly or disabled.

Trying to get yourself out of the chair, into the car, then folding up the chair and pulling it in? I wouldn't say it's impossible to do with a sedan, but completely impractical. This is why handicapped drivers use vans.