Itinerant Air-Cooled

WILMINGTON ISLAND, GA (WTOC) - A Wilmington Island family is upset, after they say four Tybee Island Police officers beat their autistic son.

A broken tooth, scrapes and bruises and two puncture marks from Tasers are the only reminders Clifford Grevemberg has of his visit to Tybee Island Friday night.

"They literally just beat the heck out of me," he said.

A beating 18-year-old Clifford and his brother, Dario Mariani, said happened after they left the annual Tybee Beach Bum Parade.

They say they stopped to get food at the Rockhouse. Clifford is 18, but couldn't go inside. Instead he sat on the curb. That's when he said the trouble started.

Tybee Police officers asked for his ID twice. The second time he says it turned violent.

"They basically threw me down to the ground," Clifford said. "Before I hit the ground, they Tased me. That's when I lost my tooth."

"I walked back inside for maybe one or two minutes to speak to one of my friends and when I came back outside, Clifford's face was completely bloodied," said Dario. "He was in handcuffs, he had a Taser sticking out of his back and he was screaming for help. He was asking me to help him. All he could do was cry and scream, he was in agony."

Dario said he told the officers repeatedly that Clifford was autistic and has a heart condition.

"They completely disregarded anything I said," said Dario.

Instead, Dario told us officers arrested Clifford and took him to the Tybee Island Jail. Clifford's mom, Nancy Grevemberg, said police couldn't tell them why Clifford had been arrested.

"We could never get a straight answer out of anyone," she said.

"I was thinking, 'What did I do? Am I in trouble or something?' And I was scared. I was traumatized," said Clifford.

Now the family is angry and wants some answers.

"Even if he wasn't a special needs child. Even if he didn't have a heart condition, there's no need for four cops and a Taser. Period," said Dario.

WTOC did call the Tybee Island Police Department numerous times this weekend. They didn't want to talk to us on camera, but said they will issue a statement on the incident Monday

tasers are used by jerk offs.

Tax dollars at work.

can there be any doubt that we live in a police state where obedience comes at the barrel of a gun or taser or threat of violence?
what happened to my country?

This is partially due IMO to the system and the way it's structured, but I think it has far more to do with the fact that assholes are allowed to become cops, then they abuse their power and are protected by their superiors, who are afraid of losing face or of their department losing power.

A parallel can be drawn here because government is the same way... nothing wrong with government, until you allow assholes to take it over, abuse power and get away with it. The military is the same way... a few assholes abuse their power and then if anyone tries to blow the whistle on them, they come back with accusations of being "unpatriotic" or "you have no right to talk if you haven't been in combat yourself, wimp."

It's all about oversight. And screening.

While agreeing with the comments posted above, it is prudent to point out that the story above is taken only from one point of view. No witnesses and no comment from the police department as of yet. It is possible that what one reads above is slanted. Perhaps a little more objective investigation into the incident is warranted?

blatzer wrote:can there be any doubt that we live in a police state where obedience comes at the barrel of a gun or taser or threat of violence?
what happened to my country?

were you conscious during grenada? perhaps you wonder if we export violence and anger, while at home we are generally picnic basket-fed yellowstone park creatures. thoughtful of you to ask the question.

tasers are torture instrument only. giving them to knucklehead cops is a slice of our modern insanity. future generations are going to freak out when they see how we tolerate this shit. so smile and support your favorite poet.

Bookwus wrote:While agreeing with the comments posted above, it is prudent to point out that the story above is taken only from one point of view. No witnesses and no comment from the police department as of yet. It is possible that what one reads above is slanted. Perhaps a little more objective investigation into the incident is warranted?

True. Too bad we've all learned to be so cynical about the police.

Well, I'm eating lunch, nothing else to read, so what's new?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH5tHj7W ... r_embedded

And this:

http://files.wtoc.com/web/Document.pdf


 

Those interested in the events surrounding this incident might want to look at this............

http://savannahnow.com/latest-news/2010 ... istic-teen

.......and follow the link to the actual police reports.

At least this is the other side of the story. I'd still like to hear what any objective witnesses might have to say about the altercation before forming an opinion.

Well sure. Its no fun to be tasered. But citing this incident as an example of living in a police state? That sort of commentary just cheapens the whole police state experience.

Bookwus wrote:At least this is the other side of the story. I'd still like to hear what any objective witnesses might have to say about the altercation before forming an opinion.

An 18 year old autistic boy drinking? The police report said he admitted to drinking, if he was, and I am not saying he deserved a shot of taser, but if he was that is asking for trouble, police or none, in public or at home.

Sylvester wrote:An 18 year old autistic boy drinking? The police report said he admitted to drinking, if he was, and I am not saying he deserved a shot of taser, but if he was that is asking for trouble, police or none, in public or at home.

C'mon, it was the Beach Bum Parade.

I'm wondering if by responding that he had been drinking, that he took it literally, yeah, I drank a Coke.

...Actually read the police report and it seems he was not intoxicated. That is a good read. What a clusterfuck, you can see how in a crazy party atmosphere the cops would mistake his behavior. BTW in Chicago the brother would have gotten tazed too, probably the parents as well.

What kind of idiot leaves an autistic man-child alone on the curb outside a bar?

Grevemberg was autistic and unable to converse in a normally sociable manner with other adults. He showed many of the characteristics of an intoxicated person. He was a foot taller than both of the involved officers. He became violent for no obvious reason. The officer with the Taser ended the fight and prevented further injuries to Mr. Grevemberg and to the officers themselves.

An unfortunate screw-up, but he'll be fine. Hardly worth all the breathless rhetoric.

You may be right. Maybe we stop being so concerned with crimes, as long as the victim will be fine. I mean, rape. C'mon... the victim gets over it eventually. Wounds heal. Hardly worth all the breathless rhetoric.