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Grandfather visiting Alabama from India stopped by police while taking walk, left partly paralyzed | AL.com
Grandfather visiting Alabama from India stopped by police while taking
a walk, left partly paralyzed.
Madison, Alabama police officers last week ( Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 )
roughed up a 57-year-old Indian citizen who was walking on the sidewalk
outside his son's home, leaving the older man temporarily paralyzed and
hospitalized with fused vertebrae.
"He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time," said his
son, Chirag Patel, this morning. No crime had been committed. Madison
Police on Monday issued a statement saying the department had suspended
the officer and were investigating the use of force in this case.
Chirag Patel, an engineer for one of the many government contractors in
Huntsville, said he had brought his father from India to his new home
in the suburbs of Madison. His father, Sureshbhai Patel, was to help
his wife care for their new baby, a 17-month-old son, so he could
pursue his masters degree in electrical engineering at the University
of Alabama in Huntsville. "This is a good neighborhood. I didn't
expect anything to happen," said Chirag Patel, who recently bought the
new house on Hardiman Place Lane.
Madison police issued a statement on Monday saying they received a call
early Friday about a man looking in garages among the brick homes just
south of the city's new high school. "The caller, who lives in the
neighborhood did not recognize the subject and thought him to be
suspicious," reads the statement released by police.
Hank Sherrod, attorney for Patel said the man was not walking on other
people's property nor looking in garages. "This is broad daylight,
early morning, walking down the street. There is nothing suspicious
about Mr. Patel other than he has brown skin," said Sherrod.
Sureshbhai Patel does not speak English. He had arrived less than two
weeks ago. The statement by Madison police refers to a "communication
barrier." Chirag Patel said his father speaks only Gujarati, and some
Hindi. Sherrod says the Sureshbhai Patel told the police officers "no
English" and repeated his son's house number. The police statement says
the officer attempted to frisk the man. "The subject began putting his
hands in his pockets," reads the police statement. "Officers attempted
to pat the subject down and he attempted to pull away. The subject was
forced to the ground, which resulted in injury."
Sherrod said he spoke with Sureshbhai Patel at Huntsville Hospital this
morning. He said there were two officers present and that Patel was
patted down and did not pull away. Sherrod said one officer then pulled
Patel's arm up behind him and slung him face first into the ground. He
said Patel could not say what happened after that.
"This is just one of those things that doesn't need to happen," said
Sherrod, saying the police escalated to violence without cause and left
Patel lying bleeding from his face, paralyzed and in need of
paramedics. "That officer doesn't need to be on the streets."
Sureshbhai Patel was taken by ambulance to Madison Hospital. Hospital
staff called his son at work at 9:42 a.m. on Friday. Chriag Patel found
his father at the hospital unable to move his legs and with limited
motion in his arms.
From there, due to swelling in the spine, Sureshbhai was transferred to
Huntsville Hospital for surgery to fuse two vertebrae. He remains
hospitalized. Chirag said his father can now move his right leg a
little bit, but the left remains paralyzed. He said his father can
raise both arms, but cannot make a tight grip.
He said his father had no health problems prior to this incident.
Chirag Patel hopes his father will regain full motion, but he said he
was told this would involve lengthy therapy. He is uncertain when his
father will be able to leave the hospital.
Capt. John Stringer, spokesman for Madison Police, said there are both
audio and video recordings of the stop. But he said those recordings
were evidence in the internal affairs investigation, and would not be
released to the public at this time. This video has since been
released, see below.
Madison, a booming bedroom community, is home to about 46,000 residents
just outside Huntsville. While largely white and affluent, with a per
capita income almost double the state average, the young city is also
home to many foreign-born professionals. One in 10 residents speak
something other than English in the home, and 8 percent of residents
were born in another country.
"It is a dream for me because I came from a very poor family and I
worked so hard here," said Patel. He said he chose Madison in large
part because of the schools and the opportunities for his son.
"I'm totally devastated that I might have made a big mistake," said
Patel.
Watch dashboard camera footage of Madison police officer throw
Sureshbhai Patel the ground paralyzing him.
Alabama police fire, arrest the officer who badly injured Indian grandfather during sidewalk stop | AL.com
Grandfather visiting Alabama from India stopped by police while taking
a walk, left partly paralyzed.
Madison, Alabama police officers last week ( Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 )
roughed up a 57-year-old Indian citizen who was walking on the sidewalk
outside his son's home, leaving the older man temporarily paralyzed and
hospitalized with fused vertebrae.
"He was just walking on the sidewalk as he does all the time," said his
son, Chirag Patel, this morning. No crime had been committed. Madison
Police on Monday issued a statement saying the department had suspended
the officer and were investigating the use of force in this case.
Chirag Patel, an engineer for one of the many government contractors in
Huntsville, said he had brought his father from India to his new home
in the suburbs of Madison. His father, Sureshbhai Patel, was to help
his wife care for their new baby, a 17-month-old son, so he could
pursue his masters degree in electrical engineering at the University
of Alabama in Huntsville. "This is a good neighborhood. I didn't
expect anything to happen," said Chirag Patel, who recently bought the
new house on Hardiman Place Lane.
Madison police issued a statement on Monday saying they received a call
early Friday about a man looking in garages among the brick homes just
south of the city's new high school. "The caller, who lives in the
neighborhood did not recognize the subject and thought him to be
suspicious," reads the statement released by police.
Hank Sherrod, attorney for Patel said the man was not walking on other
people's property nor looking in garages. "This is broad daylight,
early morning, walking down the street. There is nothing suspicious
about Mr. Patel other than he has brown skin," said Sherrod.
Sureshbhai Patel does not speak English. He had arrived less than two
weeks ago. The statement by Madison police refers to a "communication
barrier." Chirag Patel said his father speaks only Gujarati, and some
Hindi. Sherrod says the Sureshbhai Patel told the police officers "no
English" and repeated his son's house number. The police statement says
the officer attempted to frisk the man. "The subject began putting his
hands in his pockets," reads the police statement. "Officers attempted
to pat the subject down and he attempted to pull away. The subject was
forced to the ground, which resulted in injury."
Sherrod said he spoke with Sureshbhai Patel at Huntsville Hospital this
morning. He said there were two officers present and that Patel was
patted down and did not pull away. Sherrod said one officer then pulled
Patel's arm up behind him and slung him face first into the ground. He
said Patel could not say what happened after that.
"This is just one of those things that doesn't need to happen," said
Sherrod, saying the police escalated to violence without cause and left
Patel lying bleeding from his face, paralyzed and in need of
paramedics. "That officer doesn't need to be on the streets."
Sureshbhai Patel was taken by ambulance to Madison Hospital. Hospital
staff called his son at work at 9:42 a.m. on Friday. Chriag Patel found
his father at the hospital unable to move his legs and with limited
motion in his arms.
From there, due to swelling in the spine, Sureshbhai was transferred to
Huntsville Hospital for surgery to fuse two vertebrae. He remains
hospitalized. Chirag said his father can now move his right leg a
little bit, but the left remains paralyzed. He said his father can
raise both arms, but cannot make a tight grip.
He said his father had no health problems prior to this incident.
Chirag Patel hopes his father will regain full motion, but he said he
was told this would involve lengthy therapy. He is uncertain when his
father will be able to leave the hospital.
Capt. John Stringer, spokesman for Madison Police, said there are both
audio and video recordings of the stop. But he said those recordings
were evidence in the internal affairs investigation, and would not be
released to the public at this time. This video has since been
released, see below.
Madison, a booming bedroom community, is home to about 46,000 residents
just outside Huntsville. While largely white and affluent, with a per
capita income almost double the state average, the young city is also
home to many foreign-born professionals. One in 10 residents speak
something other than English in the home, and 8 percent of residents
were born in another country.
"It is a dream for me because I came from a very poor family and I
worked so hard here," said Patel. He said he chose Madison in large
part because of the schools and the opportunities for his son.
"I'm totally devastated that I might have made a big mistake," said
Patel.
Watch dashboard camera footage of Madison police officer throw
Sureshbhai Patel the ground paralyzing him.
Alabama police fire, arrest the officer who badly injured Indian grandfather during sidewalk stop | AL.com
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