Newly-released video shows police in South Boston, Virginia subjecting a restrained man to repeated taser attacks and denying him medical treatment, causing his death less than an hour later.
Officers initially responded to calls about 46-year-old Linwood Lambert, who was causing a scene at a motel while having an apparent mental health episode in May of 2013, reportedly having hallucinations and “acting paranoid,” according to motel guests who initially reported the incident. Lambert was unarmed at the time of his apprehension, and not initially charged with a crime.
When officers Travis Clay and Clifton Mann arrived on the scene with Cpl. Tiffany Bratton, they handcuffed Lambert, put him in a squad car, and drove him to a nearby hospital. After opening the door of the vehicle, Lambert ran into the hospital door and fell on the ground, as the officers emerged from their cars and used their tasers on him repeatedly. Officers continued to taser Lambert on the ground in front of the hospital and in the squad car on the way back to the local jail, despite police department rules stating that use of tasers is “no longer justified” after a suspect is handcuffed. Those rules also state that officers should take tasered suspects to an emergency room first before taking them to jail.
After tasering Lambert repeatedly, the officers arrested him on charges of disorderly conduct and destruction of property. Officers attempted to use CPR to revive Lambert, who was unconscious upon arrival at the jail. Lambert was pronounced dead at 6:23 AM at Sentara Halifax hospital — where the officers tasered him earlier that night.
Linwood Lambert’s family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit for $25 million. As of the time of this writing, none of the officers involved in Lambert’s death has been charged with a crime.