BY KELLI PEACOCK DUNN
News Editor
The Parks and Crump law firm in Tallahassee hosted a press conference earlier today to release the police officer’s dash cam video from the morning Barbara Dawson died.
As previously reported, Dawson, 57, refused to leave Calhoun Liberty Hospital the morning of Dec. 21 after she was treated for abdominal pains and released. She insisted she still didn’t feel well and needed further treatment. When she allegedly became unruly, the Blountstown Police Department was called by hospital officials to have her removed. Dawson was arrested, then collapsed next to Ofc. John Tadlock’s patrol car, and was later readmitted to the hospital where she died. The Medical Examiner ruled her death was due to a blood clot.
The dash cam video is actually mostly audio since Dawson never entered the patrol car. Ofc. Tadlock’s voice recorder attached to his uniform captured everything that was said inside and outside the hospital. Officials at the hospital report cameras were not working due to their server being down since late November.
“You hear her when the officer arrives in her room in a panic...she begs, ‘I can’t breathe, please don’t do this...’ You hear them insisting she is going to jail,” Attorney Daryl Parks told reporters this morning. “You also hear hospital personnel repeating to her, ‘There’s nothing wrong with you.’”
Parks added that, after being removed from the facility and collapsing, “For at least 20 minutes, she is there beside the car without any help.”
Attorneys for the Dawson family alleged that even after the doctor came out to the parking lot, assessed her and decided to readmit her, no one seemed in a big rush to get her inside.
“We have almost 30 minutes that elapsed when she didn’t have any real care,” said Parks.
Parks said Ofc. Tadlock is heard on the recording admitting to his captain that he thought Dawson was just being non-compliant. “That assumption cost Barbara Dawson her life.”
“How many times does a person have to say, ‘I’m real sick, I can’t breathe,’ or a family member observing say, ‘She’s still hurting, something is wrong here.’ We think what they did was put criminality over health care,” said Attorney and State Representative Darryl Rouson. He went on to say, “They thought the way to deal with her was taking her to jail as opposed to getting her the adequate and the sufficient medical attention she needed. This case is about getting Barbara Dawson justice.”
Blountstown Police Chief Mark Mallory released the following statement this afternoon:
"Contrary to what has been suggested by legal counsel for Ms. Dawson’s family, in Florida, law enforcement officers are “first responders”. It is important to recognize that law enforcement officers are not trained medical professionals. Generally, as a first responder, a law enforcement officer is trained in CPR. CPR would not be utilized on a person that is breathing and that has a heartbeat, as was the case with Ms. Dawson on December 21, 2015.
"In the event of a perceived medical emergency, it is a law enforcement officer’s duty and responsibility to request the assistance of trained medical professionals. It is also a law enforcement officer’s responsibility to rely on the medical training and expertise of medical professionals once the officer seeks medical evaluation and/or intervention. In Ms. Dawson’s case, the responding officer acted appropriately, by requesting immediate assistance from medical professionals.
"As clearly depicted in the audio recording of the events as they transpired on December 21, 2015, the officer sought medical attention for Ms. Dawson within less than one minute of her collapse. The medical professionals that responded to Ms. Dawson in the Calhoun-Liberty Hospital parking lot included the following: registered nurses, a paramedic, and a doctor. Upon the arrival of the various medical professionals, the officer deferred to the professional training and expertise of the summoned medical professionals to evaluate and assess Ms. Dawson’s need for medical intervention.
"Although the officer may have suspected that Ms. Dawson was intentionally noncompliant, he nonetheless fully executed his duty and responsibility, requesting that medical professionals continue to verify Ms. Dawson’s health status, even after the medical professionals initially assessed and evaluated Ms. Dawson following her collapse. Any action by the law enforcement officer usurping and/or interfering with the medical professionals’ expertise, knowledge and advice, either upon Ms. Dawson’s discharge from Calhoun-Liberty Hospital (after approximately eight (8) hours of evaluation and treatment by medical professionals) or subsequently in the Calhoun-Liberty Hospital parking lot following her collapse, would have been reckless. Any suggestion otherwise by the lawyers involved in this matter is misleading and illogical.
"Regardless, Ms. Dawson’s passing is a loss felt by our community, and our thoughts and prayers remain with her family and friends during this time."
The dash cam video can be seen in it’s entirety at Tallahassee.com
The Calhoun County Sheriff's Office continues to search for fugitive Scott Anthony Daniels after he allegedly threatened to kill Judge Kevin Grover.
Authorities are searching for a Calhoun County man who fled after the Calhoun County Sheriff's Office attempted to take him into custody for threatening a public official. According to a CCSO spokesperson, the fugitive is Scott Anthony Daniels, 46. They have not released the name of the public official Daniels allegedly threatened. Investigators are currently searching a five-mile radius in the Ocheesee community from Hwy. 69 to Jody Fields Road and the crossroads area at Hwys. 69, 286 and 274. Three images of Daniels are shown here. If you spot Daniels, please contact the CCSO at 674-5049. Residents in the Ocheesee area are urged to keep their doors locked. More details as they become available.
Comments