Woman Dies after Airport Arrest

correction: Matthew Sheridan was a 20 year old from Wisconsin. He wasn't biting but spitting. The officer put the wrong hood on him and improperly employed it to boot, and he suffocated while in route to police station. He was originally arrested on suspicion of driving away from a gas station without paying. Which turned out to be false. So not only did he die horribly, but for no reason. It's a sad, horrible story, but it is not the norm.

Same goes for this poor woman. It's a sad, horrible story but it isn't the norm. We just rarely get to hear or read about, the good things, the helpful things. It gives the impression that there's a huge stereotypical behavior pattern in police and this is simply not true.

I remember as a young adult, having a cup of coffee with my mom in a family restaurant. it was about 11pm. mom was in her 50's at the time. the waitress comes over with 2 glasses of water and tells us they are from the gentleman at the counter. we chuckle a little bit and tell her to tell him , thank you.

a couple minutes later, he's standing at our table asking if he can join us. we say okay and he sits down and begins to pour his heart out. he was in street clothes but was really an off duty police officer. during the day, he had been present at the clean up of a horrible accident on the highway in which a 2 year old had been torn to pieces by the impact. he had to assist in collecting the body parts (this was back in like the late 70's). he was so devastated, he went to the bar that night, at a holiday inn, drank himself silly, and then asked someone to drive him to a place to get hot coffee so he could sober up.

it dawned on me that the job of a police officer is like post traumatic stress disorder that never ends. there's no -- hey you get to go home and recover. it's back to work the next day. rinse wash repeat. it's not a job, it's a medical and psychological problem waiting to happen.

The one to blame is her husband. If she was so bad off that she was going to rehab, NOONE should have let her lly alone. So, in retorspect, I think we should charge her husband with wreckless endagerment since he knew that she was volitile (going to rehab), let her fly alone (negligence) and then she killed herself, Charge him with manslaughter in fact.

There, that is a solution and not a conspiracy. Someone is to blame, and in my eyes, it is him. I know that there is NO WAY I would let anyone I knew, let alone my wife, fly half way across to the country to rehab. NFW!!!!

[edit on 4-10-2007 by esdad71]

Video shows woman's scuffle with police, arrest before airport death.

Video Source | CNN

Look how many officers it takes to subdue her, was that really necessary?

reply to post by goosdawg


Someone who is on a substance can put up quite a fight as they feel less pain then a normal person does. Three officers is not unreasonable here as one needs to pin her torso down and hold her arms, another needs to control her feet which are kicking, and the third needs to apply the cuffs. From the video the only person who has any pressure directly on her is the one pinning her torso down. This is in no way unreasonable force, especially for someone who is on a mind altering substance.

Thanks for posting the video though.

Boondock78 said,

don't you think the medical examiner would be able to determine cause of death if she strangled herself?

He can pretty much guesstimate but still lacks sufficient information, until the lab results are completed.

The cause of death is under investigation, and an autopsy was performed on Tuesday evening by the Maricopa County medical examiner. David Boyer, a spokesman for the medical examiner, said the results of the autopsy would not be released until laboratory results were completed in a few weeks.

A pathologist hired by the Gotbaum family, Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, was allowed to perform a separate examination, Mr. Manning said. He said yesterday that Dr. Wecht would wait for lab results before announcing his conclusion. But he added that a private investigator who also attended the exam said Ms. Gotbaum exhibited signs of “very serious trauma,” including bruises and a mark on her neck from the metal chain.

Quotes from below link..........

www.nytimes.com... oref=slogin

eek, she definitely looked scared in the video. too bad there were no independent videos of the event, like cellphone videos. the police in the article says she did not kick or punch the police officers, so whoever said she was kicking and punching was incorrect, or the article was incorrect. the officer in the article said she wasn't violent, she just resisted arrest.

Originally posted by undo
the police in the article says she did not kick or punch the police officers, so whoever said she was kicking and punching was incorrect, or the article was incorrect.

She was most certainly struggling, and she was partly using her feet to do so. If you watch the video, when it zooms into the scene, you can see the third officer sits down on her feet with his hands on each leg. That is to restrain her feet, because she was using them to struggle. You can see this clearly happening around 1:40 to 1:50 into the film

Originally posted by defcon5


She was most certainly struggling, and she was partly using her feet to do so. If you watch the video, when it zooms into the scene, you can see the third officer sits down on her feet with his hands on each leg. That is to restrain her feet, because she was using them to struggle. You can see this clearly happening around 1:40 to 1:50 into the film

Don't ask me, I'm just quoting the police officer in the article. Maybe they saw that as resisting arrest and not actually attempting to kick or punch them?

I agree with the *kitty playing the guitar*
If you want to blame someone....Blame the husband! He should have went with her or atleast had someone go with her.

I've worked the 9th floor Psych Unit in Wash State. I've seen a fairly small woman fight 6 male medical personnel! She was Screaming, Punching, Biting and Kicking them in the groin! Yes, it takes that many people to get the patient under control and prevent injuries.....to her and the medical personnel. If on drugs or insane their strength is nearly insurmountable.

A CRACK ADDICT jumped off a building, broke both legs and kept running from the cops.

reply to post by esdad71


yeah

and when you 'don't let her go' then the fuzz hit you with holding her against her will.
you'd rather blame the hubby than the negligent cops?

reply to post by Boondock78


Man I am sorry you hate the police as much as you do, but that really does not change what happened in this instance. This person had no business being in an airport, nor trying to board an aircraft in that condition. Just the fact that she was that out of it means the PSA’s HAD to deny her passage on the aircraft. Someone should have been traveling with this person, you certainly do not allow someone in that condition to get on an aircraft. If there was any negligence on the part of the police, at this point I might say it was for arresting her and not baker acting her.

After seeing the videos, and the officers reports, and the confernation of a bench in the holding cell, almost everything that i thought about this case has come to light.

This is no ones fault but her own, and listening to her lawyer talk, OH man, is that not comedy, but what else should one expect from a lawyer.

It is a tradagey that this women is dead, but lets not blame the officers, it is the womans fualt, not the airlines, she had every opertunity to get to her flight, and she choose to just screw around, then threw a temper tantrum that is similar to what 4 year olds do.

This society has a problem with taking responsiblility for thier actions.

I saw that last line from experience.

her being drunk, he being in no condition to board an airport, etc...none of those things make it ok for her to be trated how she was by the cops.

reply to post by Boondock78


After watching the video released yesterday I have to disagree. She caused the problem herself and then some reporter listened to the one lady who claimed to have witnessed the horror was proven wrong by the video. What she claimed and what really happened cannot be desputed anylonger by anyone since videos do not lie and proves beyond a doubt the ploice acted properly and within procedures.

Frankly that lady sort of sounded like you by giving the impression police were bad which all are not :shk:

[edit on 10/5/2007 by shots]

reply to post by shots


well, there were no cameras in the holding cell so NONE of us know what happened.

teh husband picked up the body and the family hired a pathologist for an independant autopsy...they were handed teh body but they did not get the brain, the heart, and another organ..

why i wonder?

i forgot though, everything is justified cause she was a drunk and she was irate....
meh

edit* i mean, it is impossible to fathom that maybe they acted 'properly' in the terminal, but as soon as they get away from the hundreds of witnesses, the roughing up starts...right


[edit on 5-10-2007 by Boondock78]

Originally posted by Boondock78
well, there were no cameras in the holding cell so NONE of us know what happened.

True we may never see one of the cell but the police might.

teh husband picked up the body and the family hired a pathologist for an independant autopsy...they were handed teh body but they did not get the brain, the heart, and another organ..

Also I do think what the family is saying regarding the body might and I am just saying might be their lwayer talking to gather more support for the faily since they already have a website up about her since I doubt the cornoer would never have released her body until the state had completed the autopsy that would include results of the tox test, which only stands to reason since the tox tests might give them cause to want to take another more detailed look at the corpse.


but I do agree the husband/family asked to have an independant there while it was done.



[edit on 10/5/2007 by shots]

i watched the video a few times....while there is no audio so we can not hear her screaming, she does not 'appear' to be as rabid as has been said.

also, from what the video shows, they did not use excessive force on her up till that point.

what happens though after the vids go off? what happens when they shuttle her to the back area where there is nobody around but her and 'the law'.?

they stuck her in there, cuffed/chackled and within 8 minutes she strangled herself?

it just does not add up.


in the vid, they went to the ground with her and it didn't look like a crazy struggle. after she was cuffed behind her back, what/where exactly was the threat....thats my question...

Boondock78

her being drunk, he being in no condition to board an airport, etc...none of those things make it ok for her to be trated how she was by the cops.

Let's just pretend the Airport Security ignored this woman's behavior....
And she boarded the plane (YOU and YOUR family were on.) She goes TOTALLY BALLISTIC, because she was refused another drink. She starts Screaming obscenities, Tossing overhead luggage, Punching, Kicking, Biting anyone who came, within a few feet of her space. Remember talking to this woman is no option. She's in a Rage and Extremely Dangerous to you and other passengers. What would you do?

reply to post by MountainStar


first i should rephrase where i said it is no excuse for them to treat her how they did....
i say this cause of what i can see in the vid, they really didn't do anything wrong. but, th eincident didn't stop with the vid.
obviously something went down that we are not going to see.

second, i am not going to answer your loaded question.

i know way back on page 2 or something i said something to the effect of 'back in the day' they'd let you get on if you were a minute late but that does not mean they should have let her get on...

these days you have to be careful in an airport, more so than ever.
were they just in doing what they did (in what we can see in the vid)?, imo, yes.

thats not what i am concerned with though.

as the video clearly shows, she was not some grizzly bear to take down. they had her on her belly, cuffed, and up seconds after making contact.....so, again, my concern is this....

WHY did they leave her cuffed and chained and alone in a room?
she was no threat to anyone as she was cuffed in the back....was the long chain needed? was there really a chain?

they said she strangled herself and if that is true, i would 'think' the medical examiner would have been able to find that..i mean, there would be apparent bruising from the chain as she would have had to been in TIGHT...there would be signs in her eyes...

nope.....can not say though...

what i am saying is it is fishy..i am NOT saying they murdered her....i am leaning that way via negligence or just getting heavy handed when they got her away from public view....

thats what i will believe till i see more.

Originally posted by Boondock78
i watched the video a few times....while there is no audio so we can not hear her screaming, she does not 'appear' to be as rabid as has been said.

That is more then likely because the one witness who can be seen on another video they showed last night clearly exaggerated the situation at least that is the impression I got after watching it.

also, from what the video shows, they did not use excessive force on her up till that point.

True again which further confirms the eyewitness was exaggerating. She said they manhandled her and threw her to the floor which we both know did not happen as evidenced by the video.

they stuck her in there, cuffed/chackled and within 8 minutes she strangled herself?

it just does not add up.

Well it just might if you used the actual time frame according to the article which states it was 15 minutes not 8 as you are claiming




[edit on 10/5/2007 by shots]