Police warned an 8-year-old girl before they tased her, and now her mother has filed a lawsuit, claiming police fired darts from the electroshock weapon into the girl's chest "within seconds," according to CNN.
The lawsuit says the force of the electricity shot through the girl's body, lifted her and threw her against a wall. "After the officers had stunned (the girl) into high voltage submission, they pulled the fish-hook-like Taser darts from her chest, gave her emergency medical attention, bandaged the holes left by the razor-sharp hooks, and called the ambulance," the lawsuit claims.
But why did police tase a young girl? To prevent her from hurting herself.
The girl's babysitter called police because the child had a knife in her hand. Everyone involved agreed on this matter: Dawn Stenstrom, the girl's mother and the defendants, the city of Pierre, South Dakota, it's former police chief, Robert Grandpre, and the four officers at the October 4, 2013 incident, CNN reported.
But, they don't share the same opinions about the officers' actions.
Strenstorm claims the police used "excessive force" when they tased her daughter, but Grandpre disagreed and felt that police "might possibly have saved this girl's life," he told CNN.
The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation conducted an independent two-month investigation and ruled in December that the officer acted appropriately.
"Given the circumstances facing the officer at the time, it appears from the report that deploying a Taser was the best viable way to defuse the situation," said Wendy Kloeppner, the Hughes County state's attorney, in a statement.
But Dana Hanna, Strenstrom's attorney, doesn't think so. "That's bull****," Hanna told CNN Saturday.
"Four trained police officers surrounding a 70-pound, 8-year-old Indian girl" should have used less risky tactics, Hanna said.
"One distracts her, another grabs the girl's arm. That's what they should have done," Hanna said. "She had a kitchen paring knife, but hadn't cut. She was a kid throwing a tantrum. They should have made an attempt to grab the kid, not use a weapon to throw her into a wall," Hanna said.
Bobby Jones, the girl's father, told CNN affiliate KSFY, "I don't fault for the police being there because they were called. They were there. But what happened while they were there is why I'm upset."
One of the officers was a Taser instructor and another was a hostage negotiator.
Granpre told KSFY last October that Pierre police had used Tasers nine times in the past two years. The girl, identified in the lawsuit as "L. M. J.," is the youngest person to receive the electricity shock.
According to Hanna, Jones and Stenstrom are not married, and Jones is not a party to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are seeking at least $100,000 in damages, plus punitive damages and "other relief as the court shall consider to be fair and equitable," CNN reported.
"Her pain and suffering is going to be of that type that a jury will have to tell us what it's worth," Hanna's co-counsel, Patrick Duffy, said. "Part of that is going to be a reflection of the fact that you're not supposed to use a Taser on a kid. I don't know of too many cops that don't know that."
Anderson, the defendants' attorney, said he didn't know if the case would go to trial, but Duffy said he hopes it does.
"What is it really going to do for the rest of her life if she has to interact with authority figures and law enforcement?" Duffy said. "What's it going to be like first time she looks in the rear-view mirror and law enforcement gives her a speeding ticket? She won't shake that."
Due to the pending litigation, Pierre Mayor Laurie Gill refused to comment. Attorney Robert Anderson, who is representing the defendants, said he, too, was "not going to comment on the merits of pending litigation."
Stenstrom and her daughter, who are members of the Rosebud Sioux tribe, have moved from Pierre back to the tribal reservation since the incident.
Hanna said the girl is receiving mental and emotional counseling from a child counselor.
"A Taser's not meant to kill, but it does," Hanna said. "Many people have died after being hit by a Taser by cops. It never should be used on a little child. She certainly wasn't presenting a danger to officers."
