SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) – Salt Lake police are being accused of firing a Taser gun on a mentally challenged man -- not just once but twice. If that wasn't enough, the Salt Lake County Jail may have booted the man out onto the street alone.
ABC 4 Reporter Brian Carlson spoke exclusively with the family of this mentally challenged man. They claim he was not only wrongfully shot with a Taser, but also abused, frightened and humiliated.
You've probably seen videos where cops use a Taser gun on someone, which some say border on police brutality. That's exactly what Diana Elms said Salt Lake officers did to her mentally challenged son Michael.
"I don't even have the words to express what I think of everybody that participated in the mistreatment and torture of my child," said Diana Elms, mother of Michael Grant.
Michael is a paranoid schizophrenic, who's 85% deaf, with impaired vision, and a low I.Q. Elms said last month two female officers tased Michael twice.
"According to Michael they stood there with their foot on his face holding him down," said Elms.
Police documents show the officers were responding to a late night suicide call at Michael's apartment off of 18th South in Salt Lake City. When Michael opened his door, one officer drew her gun and the other grabbed her Taser.
"I put my hands up, up and shook my head," said Michael Grant, tased by police.
Michael told Carlson he couldn't understand what the officers were saying, all he knows is they tased him.
"I didn't fall down the right way, so they Tased me again," said Michael.
Michael said he was so scared he soiled himself. What’s worse, after police took to him to the Salt Lake County Jail, security staff turned Michael loose by himself at 2:00 a.m., and forced him to find his way home.
"I didn't know where I was going; I couldn't see the direction of the street, because I have bad night vision," said Michael.
Michael's mother is irate.
“I think it’s inhumane, it’s barbaric,” said Elms.
And it keeps Michael up at night.
"Sometimes I have nightmares about it," said Michael.
Tuesday Carlson went to the Salt Lake Police Department for answers, but they would only say the two officers who used the Taser on Michael are being investigated by internal affairs. When Carlson called the jail, they weren't ready to make a response.
For Michael’s mother, that's simply not good enough.
"I think that the people that were a part of this travesty need to be held accountable," Elms said.
Both the jail and Salt Lake police are talking with Michael and his mother. So far it's unclear what type of disciplinary action will be taken, if any.
