I'm not in favor of tasers being used on pregnant women at all, but I'm also quite opposed to pregnant women using handicapped parking spaces when they are technically not handicapped. No, pregnancy is not a handicap. It might feel that way on your crappiest, back-achy, swollen ankle days, but no -- it is not a disabling condition that entitles you to special accommodations, nor is it even a privilege. From the way it sounds, 30-year-old Tiffany Rent really brought the situation outside a Chicago Walgreens that led to cops tasering her chest on herself, sorry to say.
Just guessing what happened here. Rent had two kids in the car, a 9-year-old and 3-year-old, that she could simply not leave alone while she ran into the drug store for lord-knows-what. So she parked in the blue outlined section that was probably closer to the door so she could keep an eye on her kids while she ran in and out. Guilty myself of leaving the kids for just a minute to grab something, but never using a handicapped spot. Having family members who genuinely need those spots, that irks me beyond anything. It's lazy, inconsiderate, and illegal.
Cops were only doing their job trying to ticket Rent for parking illegally, and even warned her they were going to use the stun gun if she tried to drive off after defiantly tearing up her ticket. But she continued resist and use vulgar language, according to reports.
Now Rent is ranting that she worried the police put her baby in danger (even though the baby supposedly checked out fine at the hospital). Would have been nice if she considered that before she started kicking up a ruckus over a parking ticket.
As a former pregnant woman myself, I sympathize with the daily challenges of being a second- or even third-time expectant mom. I think people should give up their seat for pregnant women on the subway or bus. It's just the right thing to do. But pulling the pregnancy card to break the law is just not cool. And it's obnoxious.
Anyone disagree?
Image via hermanturnip/Flickr
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Comments 120
Did you see her family is all defending her and can't believe the cops did that in front of the kids? How about the fact their mother blantatly broke the law and was swearing in front of them!? And her baby daddy was there so there was no reason to leave the kids alone in the car!!!
I did read the article. She was getting another ticket for littering. Littering is considered a nuisance infraction in most states. Also carrrying ID is not madatory, nor do you have to show it to police outside of a traffic stop unless you are being detained/arrested. What would have happened if she had littered but didn't have the ID on her, would she still have been tased for failing to produce an ID? Also she had already recieved a ticket.The police had all of her identifying information when he wrote the first one.It would have been on the carbon copy of the ticket he had in his book. She did not need to produce it again. And i'll take it a step further and say that even if he hadn't written down her name on her ticket and just her license plate, they can still get the registration address off of the license plate and have mailed the ticket to the home. Also he did see that she was pregnant. He tased her because he was mad that she had the audacity to tear a ticket up in front of him and other people! Police don't like to be embarrassed like that. You don't taser someone for not producing ID.
@Polly - tearing up a ticket and throwing it at the police is no way, shape , or form assault. Lol. Assualt is having physical contact and attempting to bestow bodily harm on a police office/person. Confetti doesn't fall under that category.
For those of you crying "read the story" I followed the linked article. This is what I gleaned from it. This is a clear case of drunk-on-power cops overstepping. Yes, she was rude for taking a handicaapped spot and cussing out the cop. But is rudeness really an excuse to use deadly force on a person? What if she'd had a heart condition?
These cops ASSAULTED a pregant woman who's only crime was using a handicapped spot. She was putting her car in gear when the cop deployed his Taser, which seems incredibly risky, what if heer foot slipped and slammed on the gas, therefore putting her, the CHILDREN, as well as the cops at risk of injury.
That's what I'm seeing here, a clear case of excessive force on a civilan. I don't give a crap if she was pregnant or not, these cops went overboard.
If she would have been respectful to the police officer I doubt she would have gotten the ticket to begin with. Even after she was ticketed she had the option to fight the ticket in court. Either way, she put herself in this situation with no thought to her unborn child. I do not feel sorry for people who CLEARLY break the law and then whine when there are consequences.