Grandson Pleaded ‘Don’t Taze My Granny’ Before Police Jolted Woman, Suit Says
An Oklahoma grandmother claims in a federal lawsuit that police violated her civil rights by Tasering her while she was in her bed, hooked up to an oxygen machine.
The woman, Lona Varner, was 86 years old at the time, according to Koco.com and the Oklahoman. Police had been called to Varner’s home in El Reno after her grandson called 911 and said he feared she wanted to end her life. According to police reports, Varner pulled a knife from beneath her pillow and threatened to stab a police officer if he tried to take her away.
The suit says Varner’s grandson, Lonnie Tinsley, pleaded with police, “Don’t taze my Granny!” the Oklahoman reports.
The police report, cited by Koco.com, says Varner was aggressive. “I want to die. I did not call you, so get the [expletive] out of my house,” she reportedly said. “If you try and get the knife, I will stab you and kill you. I killed four Japs in World War II, and I would not bat an eye killing you.”
Varna’s lawyer, Brian Dell, called Varner “a pretty salty old lady” in an interview with Koco.com. But he and the grandson deny that she threatened to kill the officers or that she talked of killing Japanese soldiers while in her apartment. Varner was a civilian volunteer on hospital ships in the Pacific during World War II, Dell told the Oklahoman.
“It seems to me that using some sort of high voltage on an 86-year-old seems inappropriate,” he told the television station.
