Woman pleads with cops for help, baby dies
 

The video of this just about made me sick. Sick or wanting to shoot someone, I'm not sure which. It can be seen on the link.

http://www.thekansascitychannel.com/...47/detail.html

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A woman whose premature baby died the day after she was arrested has sued the Kansas City Police Department and two officers who repeatedly ignored her pleas for medical help while they were arresting her.

A police videotape released Tuesday shows Sofia Salva telling police officers numerous times on Feb. 5, 2006, that she was pregnant, bleeding and needed to go to a hospital.

After the ninth request, a female officer asked: "How is that my problem?"


Salva, a Sudanese native, was held overnight on traffic violations and outstanding city warrants. After being released the next morning, she delivered a premature baby boy who died after one minute, according to a lawsuit Salva filed Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Salva sued officers Melody Spencer and Kevin Schnell and the Police Department for wrongful death, personal injuries and failure to provide medical assistance. Salva is seeking actual damages exceeding $25,000 and punitive damages to punish and deter such conduct in the future.

"The officers went into this with a preconceived idea of who and what they were dealing with, and they were wrong," said Salva's attorney, Andrew Protzman. "It's tragic."

The videotape was released to the media after The Kansas City Star requested it under Missouri's open records law.

Police have opened an internal investigation to determine exactly what happened, department spokesman Capt. Rich Lockhart said.

"It's a matter of trust. ... We want to make sure the community trusts us to get to the bottom of this regardless of the way it reflects on the police department," Lockhart said.

The officers stopped Salva after they saw her affixing a fake temporary tag on the back windshield of her car.

After the officers tell her why she was arrested, Salva is seen telling the officers she is having a miscarriage and is bleeding.

"Do you want to check me?" Salva asks on the tape. "I'm bleeding. I have a 3-month baby inside."

Schnell, who has worked for the department for less than two years, walks away from the car and tells his partner: "She just gave me a line of excuses. She said she's bleeding. She said you can check her."

Salva said: "I'm three months pregnant and I'm bleeding."

Spencer, a four-year veteran, replied: "OK. Why are you driving to the store and then putting a fake temporary tag in your car?"

"I took it because I want to go to the hospital," Salva said.

The officers made Salva sit on the curb as they searched her car, purse and grocery sacks.

Salva again tells the officers that she is bleeding and asks them to check her underwear and says she wants to go to the hospital.

"Well," Spencer said, "that will be something you can take care of when we get done with you."

After a drawn-out process to get Salva's identifying information, Salva is clearly upset.

"I have a baby in my stomach and I'm bleeding and I open my underwear for you to see."

"Stay seated!" Schnell yelled.

"If I die here, will you take care of me?" Salva said. "If I die here?"

"Fair enough," Schnell said.

Officers are then told Salva has outstanding city warrants for mistreatment of children, trespassing and several traffic violations, with bonds totaling $4,600.

After Salva is handcuffed, she again tells Schnell she is bleeding.

"I don't doubt that you're possibly bleeding, but you got a lot more problems with us," Schnell said.

No tapes were available of Salva's time in the jail, but she contends in the lawsuit that her continued pleas for help were ignored. The next morning, jailers let her go to a hospital after she passed a large blood clot. Salva delivered a premature baby boy, who lived for one minute.

The department's legal adviser said the tapes of Salva's time in jail had been recycled before it became aware of Salva's claims.

It's sad when something is really wrong and no one believes you or cares. Tragic.

Well, in general we have not had much fun with K.C. cops at all. The few times we run into them for something I have seen it go south, quickly. But, in their case they should have listened a little more. I mean, she was guilty as hell, on what seems to be many charges, so they had a place to stop her and figure out whats going on. But the repeated attempts to explain had to give them a clue something was up. People don't make that up on the side of the road.

The question is, would going directly into an ambulance done any good? Think the child would be alive?

I don't. And that takes away the $$$$ in my opinion.

Read about that earlier - very messed up.

sad event...im sure if she had looked pregnant they would have taken her seriously :(

Do you think the police were really qualified to make that judgement?

Precisely. If she was already bleeding, it was already too late.

that's not the point here i don't think. regardless of whether or not her baby would have survived, they denied her the chance that doctors could have done something to help...

Well that is horible....How thaey couldn't help her.......That just sucks.....

totaly fucked up..

Not necessarily, although I'm sure the police will try to push that idea in court.

i hate cops and their egos. bunch of pussies on power trips

fucking idiots!

fuck the police

Maybe it was karma was finally exacting a debt.

I dunno, baddog. I've had an issue with a pregnancy that resulted in bleeding and 7 months later I ended up with a healthy baby.

To me that isn't the point though. Nor is the other stuff that she had been in trouble for or charged with. That could have all been dealt with after they got her medical care.

That may be true, but they neglected to provide her with medical attention that she desperately needed. Her civil rights were violated.

It dosen't matter if the baby would have lived or not... this is just fucking wrong.

gotta love cops these days they all think their above the law... another incident where SUPER COPS save the day...

she was detained on a outstanding warrants that stemmed from traffic violations she's a real hard criminal right.... so when she pleads for medical attention they ignored her wouldn't it have made more sense for them to just have had an EMT come into the holding facility and check on here and then a decision could have been made from there whether or not she would need further treatment.

cocksuckers like this should be fucking beaten for abusing their power

You still call her medical care...even if the baby would still have died her own body was going through something rather major. Call an ambulance even if it is to cover your own ass.

That is horrible :(

Guilty until proven innocent.

Lets all hate all law enforcement now.

Thats what them smart peoples would do!

I love how all the idiots are "fuck the police" after reading 1 story.

What was wrong with her is of no consequense, the minute she asked to go to the hospital and she was denied they violated her rights.

Poverty takes another life.

That sucks. I thought if you asked for medical care you are supposed to get it. I do not hate the police, but they should have at least called an ambulance to check her out just to be safe.

Anyone else catch this nice little tidbit?

things that make you go hmm

yeah, you guys are right. i mean why would the cops think some scumbag bitch, with a record and outstanding warrants isn't being completely honest and open? i mean seriously... why would anyone give a cop a bullshit story as they are being arrested? probably never happens.

actually, guys, when you start bleeding while pregnant, the doctor usually gives you a hormone cocktail and often that takes care of the problem.

this reminds me of the one a couple days ago. a woman was raped and went to report it. she got dose one of the morning after pill but when it turned out she had a juvenile offense (she was an adult when this happened), the police stopped the investigation, arrested her and she wasn't allowed to have the second morning after pill - it requires 2 but the woman in the jail medical wouldn't give her a pill. she says she can't make that decision but apparently didn't go to a supervisor, either. turns out she shouldn't have been arrested and now, there's a small chance she's carrying a rapist's baby.

damn..this is making my fuckin blood boil. fuckin police...

I don’t hate cops at all, I feel this incident was handled really bad as they are not doctors but law enforcers and a person should not be denied medical care ever especially by the police .... on the other hand it makes you think how many times are they told that exact same thing per day I wonder? Either way EMT should have been called

even if they hear it every day - which i doubt - would it really have hurt to have the female cop check for bleeding? since they are cops and not doctors, a doctor should be the one to determine if there is a problem BEFORE it's too late to do anything about that problem.

To me the cops on the street made one mistake. They should have called an ambulance right there and let them look at her. If the paramedics decided she needed help they would just arrest her, let them paramedics take her to the hospital and follow her there.

That said, you have to understand that during any average shift that a cop works 99% of the people they meet lie to them about something. So they see this woman put a fake tag in the back of her car and drive off so they pull her over. She has warrants and just did something illegal so why would they assume that she isn't just lying to them? My buddy has had guys have drugs taken out of their pockets and then tell them "these aren't my pants." The woman wouldn't tell them her first name, she couldn't spell her name, she told them that she didn't know here date of birth, then she starts telling them her sister's name. If it's me I'm very suspicious of her.

Still, they should have called the ambulance and if not, when they got her to the jail and did the closer pat down and inspection of her they should have called one then.

Thats sucks....bunch of pigs....i dont hate cops but when you come across a dirty one, they are real bad....

That's fucked up! This is way I hate fucking cops.

Messed up all around.

cops are supposed to provide medical care when requested period end of story , they didnt. Doesn't matter if they 99% think the person is lying..

p.s. to those who think babies cant be saved in scenario's like this your wrong. Its possible this baby could have been saved. Of course is 100 times more likely nothing could have been done , thats hardly the point anyways.

If someone is bleeding it should be a no-brainer you call the ambulance..