Father tasered while holding newborn.

[RICHARD]

I just heard about this story.....The idiot.....Oops!, father was tasered while trying to take his child out of the hospital.

He was trying to take his newborn from the hospital to 'show his relatives'.

From what I understand about the security systems in place for newborns in hospitals -this idiot deserved to be tasered.

The mom was still a patient and had given the jerk permission to take the baby out, as he was heading out of the area, an employee advised him that he shouldn't take the child out of the area.


There are systems in place to keep kids from being abducted or swapped after birth.
When a child is born they are given a matching bracelet that has a 'Shoplifting Tag' on it along with a number that matches the the one on the mother.

There are sensors built into the area that sound an alarm when a person tries to pass that point with a child that is tagged. The bracelet is removed only when the child is being discharged.


Apparently this father was also issued a matching bracelet showing that he was the father, but he was trying to take the child out of the nursery without getting permission or clearance from the staff.

He had a confrontation with two security officers and was tased while holding the baby in his arms. The child was dropped on his head and suffered no serious injuries.

The 'father/idiot" stated that he was going to sue the hospital, the PD and everyone else involved. :D


-------------------

[caseysmom]

When I had my kids and it was a lot of years ago my sister walked my daughter around in her rolling bassinet thingie and she said the nurses watched her like a hawk. It was very clear that you did not do what that father did.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Well, after all, the security guards didn't know he was really that babies father. Any crook trying to steal a baby can claim to be its parent. :(
The father's bracelet could have been stolen or false like a false ID.

[caseysmom]

While the baby is in the hospital and not discharged the baby is the hospitals responsibility. I was not allowed to pick my babies up out of the bassinet unless I was in my room, I was not allowed to keep them in my room while I was sleeping, etc.

[critter crazy]

The Baby was dropped on its head??? Poor Baby!! Stupid father. It is very clear, while in the hospital, that the baby is not allowed to leave untill discharged. Why, like normal people, did he not have his relatives come into the hospital???

[lizbud]

Thay should not have done that while he was holding the baby. Two
security people surely could detain him & remove the baby before dealing
with the arrest or whatever of the guy. The baby's safety should come first.

[caseysmom]

The baby could just as easily been dropped in a struggle, this was the father's fault in my opinion.

[ratdogg]

using a taser on someone holding a baby is "stunning"...especially since 2 security officers should be able to physically detain 1 crazed father clutching a baby....

[Lady's Human]

I think there are other methods they could have used.........If they tasered the father, they also tasered the baby.

[pitc9]

I'm glad the baby wasn't hurt!

I just wish the stupid father was dropped on his head instead!!

[Pam]

Thay should not have done that while he was holding the baby. Two
security people surely could detain him & remove the baby before dealing
with the arrest or whatever of the guy. The baby's safety should come first.

I agree completely Liz!! This reminds me of cases where people are rammed into and die because a cop is chasing someone down a highway and they happen to be in the way. :mad: The father was an idiot but the person using the taser was a bigger idiot in my opinion. I hope there are no repercussions for the baby from that fall. If so, I would be slapping a lawsuit on them so fast their heads would spin.

[IRescue452]

That's gotta be one tough baby. I'd want them to run so many tests to see it wasn't brain damaged fromt he fall. What a stupid thing to do to a person holding a baby. And I'm sure he wasn't crazed and clutching the baby, he probably just didn't know about all this new security crap they do and was arguing that the baby was his. I'm not sure I'd call him a jerk so quickly.

[cyber-sibes]

While the concern of the hospital was legitiment, I am appalled that they tassered him while he still held the baby! That just doesn't seem right. I hope that little one is alright.

[wombat2u2004]

Thay should not have done that while he was holding the baby. Two
security people surely could detain him & remove the baby before dealing
with the arrest or whatever of the guy. The baby's safety should come first.

Right on Lizbud.....gotta agree with you 100% on that one.
Wom

[RICHARD]

There's always the baton to the fontenel (I know that's spelled wrong). or the scuffle where the baby gets crushed or neck broken. There's mace in the kids eyes, lungs and skin.

MY personal favorite is the dad using the kid as a shield from the .40 caliber slug.

The Thomas A Swift Electric Rifle is a tactical 'weapon'.

If this idiot (I waited one day) refused to go back to the nurse's station and get this thing straightened out god only knows what he would have done...
His error was in standing off with the sec guards and not following hospital protocol-

[momoffuzzyfaces]

The baby is being put in foster care because there is a history of abuse apparently. :(

[lizbud]

The baby is being put in foster care because there is a history of abuse apparently. :(


Sad. :( makes me wonder where he planned to take the baby.

[RICHARD]

Sad. :( makes me wonder where he planned to take the baby.


Hmmm,

I wonder what the fate of the child had been if not for a couple of bullying security guards? :confused:

A 'real' father would have not put any child into that situation.

[caseysmom]

Strike me with lightening I agree with you Richard :D

[Catty1]

In another story, the dad apparently said the baby was 'shaking' and had been injured. Since she is in foster care, I don't think he was able to make much of a judgement. JMO
************************************************** ********

By Juan A. Lozano | Associated Press
August 15, 2007

HOUSTON - In a confrontation captured on videotape, a hospital security guard fired a stun gun to stop a defiant father from taking home his newborn, sending both man and child crashing to the floor.

Now William Lewis says his baby girl suffers from head trauma because she was dropped.

Lewis, 30, said the April 13 episode began after he and his wife felt mistreated by staff at the Woman's Hospital of Texas and they decided to leave. Hospital employees told him doctors would not allow it, but Lewis picked up the baby and strode to a bank of elevators.

The elevators would not move because wristband sensors on each baby shut them off if anyone takes an infant without permission.

Lewis, who gave the video to The Associated Press, said his daughter landed on her head, but it cannot be seen on the video. He said the baby continues to suffer ill effects from the fall.

It was not clear whether the baby received any jolt.

Child Protective Services has custody of the baby because of a history of domestic violence between Lewis and his wife, Jacqueline Gray. Agency spokeswoman Estella Olguin said the infant does not appear to be suffering any health problems from the fall.

David Boling, an off-duty Houston police officer working security at the hospital, and another security guard can be seen on the surveillance video arriving at the elevators and trying to talk with Lewis. Lewis appears agitated as he walks around the elevators holding his daughter in his right arm.

About a minute later, Boling can be seen casually standing near Lewis, not looking in his direction, when he suddenly raises the Taser and fires it at Lewis, who was still holding his daughter.

Lewis drops to the floor. The other guard, who has not been identified, scoops up the baby and gives her to the child's mother.

In a statement, the hospital said Lewis was hostile and uncooperative toward staff members who were trying to find out his relationship to the infant when they saw him trying to leave. Neither Lewis or Gray had indicated they wanted a discharge, the statement said.

Lewis was arrested and charged with endangering a child. A grand jury in May declined to indict him on that charge, but charged him with retaliation, accusing him of making threats against Boling.

[Pam]

Lewis picked up the baby and strode to a bank of elevators.

The elevators would not move because wristband sensors on each baby shut them off if anyone takes an infant without permission.


I would think that if the elevators were disabled, as this report says, the use of the taser was absolutely unnecessary. I mentioned that in my other post and that was before I knew that the elevators were disabled.

The saddest thing is that this child will probably ultimately live with this man who sounds like he isn't going to be much of a father. Poor little thing is getting off to a rough start. :( I hope she doesn't have any future medical issues as a result of her fall.

[Catty1]

Found some interesting posts on a medical forum:


Just saw a longer clip of this incident on TV. The way the father was holding the baby showed little concern for her safety. He had her head in his right hand and her body along his right forearm. And his right arm was extended, not crossing his body. This is an unusual and not particularly careful stance for carrying a newborn. He didn't appear to be protective of the child. I have never seen anyone carry a newborn like this and I work postpartum.



Couple gives their account of hospital Taser incident
Video from local hospital making national headlines
KTRK By Laura Whitley

(8/15/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) - Exclusive video of a Houston father who was shot with a Taser while holding his baby is making national headlines. Now another couple who was at the hospital that day has come forward.

The couple has remained silent for months. After we broadcast surveillance video of the incident, the Houston parents felt like it was important to provide a missing link to this story. The surveillance tape has no sound, but the people I spoke with say they heard almost everything that happened that morning.

When Ruben and Dana Santillan gaze at their new baby's picture, they fill with pride. Little Elena's birth also reminds them of a terrifying ordeal. She was less than day old when in the middle of the night, a scene captured on surveillance video erupted outside of their hospital room.

"You could hear him and all the nurses arguing about, he wasn't to leave, you all need to let me out of the hospital," said Ruben.

William Lewis demanded nurses allow him to take his four-day-old baby girl home. He and his wife wanted to leave Texas Women's Hospital with their baby, Karla. They refused to follow hospital procedure. We spoke with Lewis by phone about his conversation with nurses.

"He told me, sir, if you do not take the baby back into the room, we're going to have to call security on you," Lewis told us. "And at that point, I decided this was the last straw."

"He yelled to them, he was like, 'I bet if I turned this into a hostage situation, somebody would let me out of this hospital'," said Ruben.

For the Santillans, with that statement, Lewis crossed the line. That's when they got scared.

"He definitely was belligerent and irate and he caused a threat to the whole floor," said Ruben.

That's why they believe an off-duty Houston police officer did the right thing when he shot Lewis with a Taser. At the time, Lewis was holding his newborn baby and she fell to the floor.

"He was the one who did wrong, not anybody else," said Dana. "He put the baby in that situation."

Coupled with anger, the Santillans also feel sad. Memories of the birth of their youngest child have been marred.

"You're supposed to have happy memories and here we are with a conflict that happened the night she was born," said Dana.

Lewis still believes that his rights were violated and that he did nothing wrong. He was charged with child endangerment, but a grand jury did not indict him. He is still facing two charges of retaliation against the officer.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)




One lesson learned: Bad idea to say the phrase "hostage situation" when you're attempting to check a baby out of the hospital AMA without signing paperwork.

ETA: Strike that. It's a lesson that should have been learned, but I'm not sure if it actually was.

[Catty1]

Pam - the stairs weren't disabled...I believe he was in the lobby of the hospital.

Door alarms go off and Security arrives. One of these fellows is a Houston cop.