5 years ago
ORLANDO, FL (AP) -- A police officer kneeled on a drug suspect's chest to restrain him and twice used a Taser stun gun after he refused to provide a urine sample at a hospital, authorities said.
Antonio Wheeler, 18, was arrested Friday on a drug charge and taken to an emergency room after telling officers he had consumed cocaine, police said.
At Florida Hospital, Wheeler refused to provide a urine sample and was handcuffed and secured with leather straps to a bed, where hospital workers tried to catheterize him, a police affidavit said.
Officer Peter Linnenkamp reported he jumped onto the bed with his knees on Wheeler's chest to restrain him. When Wheeler still refused to be catheterized, Linnenkamp said he twice used his Taser, which sends 50,000 volts into a target. "After the second shock (Wheeler) stated he would urinate and calmed down enough to be given the portable urinal," Linnenkamp wrote.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating; Linnenkamp has been relieved pending the investigation's outcome.
In a jailhouse interview, Wheeler said he resisted because he was afraid the catheterization would hurt. "I feel I was basically raped," he said.
A hospital spokeswoman said officials were "examining all of the circumstances surrounding the incident."
Wheeler faces charges including possession of cocaine with intent to sell, escape and resisting without violence.
Associated Press