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Ohio man sues cops; diabetes victim

Officers thought he was drunk





AKRON, Ohio - A diabetic man is suing the city, claiming he was roughed up by police who thought he was driving drunk when he was in a diabetic coma.

Merle Belford was found by police slumped over the steering wheel of his car May 27. Officers used pepper spray, a stun gun and kneed him in the ribs and thigh when Belford would not get out of the car, according to police reports.

After the confrontation, an officer found Belford's diabetes medicine and syringes.

Belford, 56, was in a diabetic coma. He spent nine days in the hospital with two broken ribs and a punctured lung. He was later convicted of failure to control his car; Belford is appealing.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in Summit County Common Pleas Court claims Belford's civil rights were violated because his disease was treated as a crime.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ ... 80360/1056

This story is very scary. My husband is diabetic. You never know with diabetes if it may suddenly go up or plunge. He's being sited for failure to control his car. He's laying their with a punctured lung and broken ribs. No mention of the cops being charged. What's wrong with this picture?

This makes me very sad...I can only hope my little girl (3 yrs) is never in a situation like that. She also is insulin dependant diabetic. This whole story has got me thinking though............???

This is quite outrageous. I am surprised that the two cops involved are pursuing charges under the circumstances. They should be dismissed for doing so. Mistakes can be made and are easily rectified, but these two are showing utter disrespect for their vocation and the citizens they are meant to protect. Why can't they admit they made a faulty judgement?

Drink-driving is a serious crime and they were right to be initially suspicious, but to follow through after the facts is incredulous. I doubt the man was even able to take the normal tests in his condition. That being the case, this fact could have been established by the paramedics.

No disrespect to our resident LC whose professional opinion I respect and which would outweigh mine, but I really think these two cops are acting out of self-interest.

Disgusting.:-5