UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Wednesday, April 24, 1996
7A
Man stricken by stroke sues state police for mistreatment
Officers accused him of drunkenness and let him remain untreated
The Associated Press
BOSTON — Richard Kelley was relieved to see a police cruiser pulling up behind him. A stroke had just numbered his left side, and he was struggling to control his car. He expected the officers to help.
Instead, he claims, the police dragged him out of his car, pronounced him drunk, ignored his cries for help and held him at the state police barracks for seven hours.
He says the delay left him paralyzed and in need of constant medical care.
Kelley, 51, is seeking unspecified damages against state police. In a lawsuit filed in federal court last month, he claims the officers recklessly violated his constitutional rights.
James G. Gilbert, an attorney for the state, said yesterday that the troopers "acted and reacted appropriately and followed all the procedures."
In 1994, Kelley was returning to his home in Plymouth from an auction.
"I told them,'I need help! I need help! My left side doesn't work.'"
Richard Kolley victim
In Braintree, he lost control of his car and hit a guardrail.
According to court papers, Troopers Michael Downing and James Arroyo, with the help of two unnamed Weymouth police officers, yanked Kelley from his car and hand-cuffed him. Kelley was unable to exit the vehicle on his own, Downing wrote in his police report.
When Kelley fell to the ground, the four officers carried him to the cruiser, then took him to the barracks in Norwell.
"I told them, I need help! I need help! My left side doesn't work," Kelley told The Enterprise of Brockton.
At the barracks, Kelley repeatedly fell off a bench, and the desk sergeant and other officers taunted him, he alleges.
Eventually, he was taken to South Shore Hospital, where doctors determined that he had suffered a stroke. A test found no alcohol or drugs in his bloodstream, according to the hospital report filed with the court.
Police charged Kelley with driving under the influence. The charges later were dropped.
Sgt. Robert Blazuk of the Norwell barracks said the troopers followed procedures.
He said that paramedics were called but that Kelley repeatedly refused treatment.
According to the police report, Kelley appeared to be drunk and smelled of alcohol.
Trooper Blake Gilmore, head of the medical unit at the State Police Academy, said he did not know about this particular case.
But he said that stroke victims, diabetics and others sometimes can appear drunk.
He is pushing to have more emergency medical technicians trained as state troopers. Now, 40 state troopers also are EMTs.
Kelley said that the left side of his body was paralyzed and that he no longer could climb stairs.
He said his wife and daughter had to drop out of school to run his real estate business and take care of him.
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COTTONWOOD MAGAZINE AND PRESS Celebrates THIRTY YEARS of Publication
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HARLEY ELLIOTT Salina Poet and Visual Artist
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The University Daily Kansan is looking for staff members for the summer and fall of 1996.
We are looking for talented people who can contribute to making the Kansan a better publication. You do not need to be enrolled in the School of Journalism or be a current staff member to apply. Applications are available in 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall and are due by noon on Tuesday, April 29 For more information, call Amanda Traughber or Sarah Wiese at 864-4810.
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