FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Mentally Ill Cleveland Woman Dies After Police Reportedly Slam Her to Pavement

Police reports differ wildly from the account offered by Tanesha Anderson's brother, who witnessed the incident that left the bipolar woman dead.
Photo via Flickr

Cleveland police allegedly slammed a 37-year-old woman to the ground outside her house, leading to her death, according to her brother.

Police were called to the home of Tanesha Anderson by a family member for a disturbance on November 13, Cleveland.com reported. The woman had been reportedly diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Police accounts of events leading up to Anderson's death dramatically diverge from the version offered by her brother, Joell Anderson, an eyewitness.

Advertisement

According to police, Anderson began to resist after she was escorted away by officers, who planned to take her to St. Vincent Charity Medical Center for psychiatric evaluation.

"As the officers escorted Anderson to the police vehicle, she began actively resisting the officers," police spokesman Sgt. Ali Pillow said in a press release. He said that Anderson was then handcuffed. "The woman began to kick at officers… A short time later the woman stopped struggling and appeared to go limp. Officers found a faint pulse on the victim and immediately called EMS."Joell Anderson included a number of extra details in his account, as reported by Cleveland.com. According to the deceased's brother, Anderson entered the police cruiser willingly before panicking and trying to leave the vehicle. He said that an officer drew a Taser and threatened Anderson, who then called out to her mother and brother. Joell maintained that they did not use the stun gun but threw Anderson to the ground with a takedown move.

Anderson's brother added that officers then handcuffed the woman while she was unconscious. He claimed that the male officers would not touch Anderson again until a female officer arrived on scene. "They killed my sister," he said, "I watched it."

Anderson was taken to Cleveland Clinic where she was pronounced dead. The Cleveland Division of Police Use of Deadly Force Investigation Team is now investigating the case.

Stay tuned in to the state of policing in America with VICE News' Officer Involved blog.