Autistic teen says he was beaten and arrested.

[Ponce]

Autistic teen says he was beaten and arrested.
Posted: May 23, 2010 9:02 PM PDT
Updated: May 24, 2010 10:16 AM PDT

By Melanie Ruberti - bio | email

WILMINGTON ISLAND, GA (WTOC) - A Wilmington Island family is upset, after they say four Tybee Island Police officers beat their autistic son.

A broken tooth, scrapes and bruises and two puncture marks from Tasers are the only reminders Clifford Grevemberg has of his visit to Tybee Island Friday night.

"They literally just beat the heck out of me," he said.

A beating 18-year-old Clifford and his brother, Dario Mariani, said happened after they left the annual Tybee Beach Bum Parade.

They say they stopped to get food at the Rockhouse. Clifford is 18, but couldn't go inside. Instead he sat on the curb. That's when he said the trouble started.

Tybee Police officers asked for his ID twice. The second time he says it turned violent.

"They basically threw me down to the ground," Clifford said. "Before I hit the ground, they Tased me. That's when I lost my tooth."

"I walked back inside for maybe one or two minutes to speak to one of my friends and when I came back outside, Clifford's face was completely bloodied," said Dario. "He was in handcuffs, he had a Taser sticking out of his back and he was screaming for help. He was asking me to help him. All he could do was cry and scream, he was in agony."

Dario said he told the officers repeatedly that Clifford was autistic and has a heart condition.

"They completely disregarded anything I said," said Dario.

Instead, Dario told us officers arrested Clifford and took him to the Tybee Island Jail. Clifford's mom, Nancy Grevemberg, said police couldn't tell them why Clifford had been arrested.

"We could never get a straight answer out of anyone," she said.

"I was thinking, 'What did I do? Am I in trouble or something?' And I was scared. I was traumatized," said Clifford.

Now the family is angry and wants some answers.

"Even if he wasn't a special needs child. Even if he didn't have a heart condition, there's no need for four cops and a Taser. Period," said Dario.

WTOC did call the Tybee Island Police Department numerous times this weekend. They didn't want to talk to us on camera, but said they will issue a statement on the incident Monday.

http://www.wmbfnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=12529625

[big country]

Its monday. Where is the statement?

(not that I expect you to deliver it...it was rhetorical)

Thats messed up. No two ways about it.

[zusn]

That's what he gets for not having his papers in order... :sarc:

[Ironfield]

An update on the developments of the case:

Tybee Island Police Chief James Price issued a statement today regarding his officers' Tasing of an autistic teen on the island Friday night.

Price also released the reports taken by officers in regard to Friday's incident. In one of the reports, the officer writes that 18-year-old Clifford Grevemberg said he had been drinking. Grevemberg says he was Tased twice and thrown to the ground, breaking one of his front teeth and leaving scrapes on his face and knee.

Read the incident report here. (http://multimedia.savannahnow.com/media/pdfs/052510TybeeIncidentReport.pdf)

Price's statement reads in part:

"I believe that the reports accurately portray what the officers involved were experiencing. As you read them, please try to keep in mind the conditions under which the officers were working. The area was the center of the activities that followed the end of the Beach Bum Parade, a rowdy, raucous event dominated by the consumption of adult beverages and disorderly activities. The officers had no way of knowing that Mr. Grevemberg was autistic and unable to converse in a normally sociable manner with other adults. He showed many of the characteristics of an intoxicated person. He was a foot taller than both of the involved officers. He became violent for no obvious reason. The officer with the Taser ended the fight and prevented further injuries to Mr. Grevemberg and to the officers themselves.

"We are sincerely apologetic for the injuries suffered by Mr. Grevemberg. We are also sorry that he was left unattended under the circumstances described above. As his case finds its way through the justice system, we are certain the judge will take into account any and all mitigating circumstances in rendering his decision."

Read more in Tuesday's Savannah Morning News and here at savannahnow.com.

Love the complete lack of accountability on the polices actions."He was a foot taller than the officers" from the photos he looks a bit of a gangly kid, hardly to do too much damage imho. shoot first ask questions later.

-Ironfield

[Hatha Sunahara]

That 'incident report' is one hell of a lot of paperwork. We don't have law enforcement. We have armed bureaucrats terrorizing the population.

The autistic seemed to have a pretty good vocabulary. Strange since most autistics can't speak in coherent sentences. Some of them don't have any language at all. It can get pretty damaging when you have a failure to communicate with a bunch of bullies. And that is pretty much guaranteed for autistics unless there is someone closeby to look after them whenever they are in public. Mostly to protect them from the police. This autistic appears to have Aspergers, which is just an exaggerated form of prolonged geekiness. Cops are on a hair-trigger with their authority. They must be on a quota for arrests. Don't people in small communities like that know who the disabled people are? You'd expect the cops to know as well.

Hatha

[Gypsybiker45]

That 'incident report' is one hell of a lot of paperwork. We don't have law enforcement. We have armed bureaucrats terrorizing the population.

The autistic seemed to have a pretty good vocabulary. Strange since most autistics can't speak in coherent sentences. Some of them don't have any language at all. It can get pretty damaging when you have a failure to communicate with a bunch of bullies. And that is pretty much guaranteed for autistics unless there is someone closeby to look after them whenever they are in public. Mostly to protect them from the police. This autistic appears to have Aspergers, which is just an exaggerated form of prolonged geekiness. Cops are on a hair-trigger with their authority. They must be on a quota for arrests. Don't people in small communities like that know who the disabled people are? You'd expect the cops to know as well.

Hatha







FWIW, Autism description has been changed as of late, the commercials on the radio state that 1 out of 100 people are "diagnosed" with Autism. Oddly i have NEVER met what would have clinically described as an autistic person. Not to say that they dont exist,I just never met one that didnt act like a retard.This to me is is another attempt by TPTB to create a "syndrome" to label people with for control purposes.

[Mill Man]

I don't have children but when I read about these incidents I'm utterly suprised there aren't retaliatory attacks by the childs father. Anyone with kids care to weigh in?

[AndreaGail]

That 'incident report' is one hell of a lot of paperwork. We don't have law enforcement. We have armed bureaucrats terrorizing the population.

The autistic seemed to have a pretty good vocabulary. Strange since most autistics can't speak in coherent sentences. Some of them don't have any language at all. It can get pretty damaging when you have a failure to communicate with a bunch of bullies. And that is pretty much guaranteed for autistics unless there is someone closeby to look after them whenever they are in public. Mostly to protect them from the police. This autistic appears to have Aspergers, which is just an exaggerated form of prolonged geekiness. Cops are on a hair-trigger with their authority. They must be on a quota for arrests. Don't people in small communities like that know who the disabled people are? You'd expect the cops to know as well.

Hatha







FWIW, Autism description has been changed as of late, the commercials on the radio state that 1 out of 100 people are "diagnosed" with Autism. Oddly i have NEVER met what would have clinically described as an autistic person. Not to say that they dont exist,I just never met one that didnt act like a retard.This to me is is another attempt by TPTB to create a "syndrome" to label people with for control purposes.


i agree that tptb have successfully pushed this to families to lead them to lives of big pharma and labeling

however, imo, there are some real aspects to it and i really don't feel that you can consider them "retarted"..they just have a lot harder time connecting to society, and even when they do its like a really bad actor trying to act his part...what may come natural for you might come from hard work and rote memorization for a person on the spectrum