8 Months Pregnant Black Woman Tasered by Chicago Police Files Lawsuit

From [HERE] and [MORE] A lawsuit is set to be filed Thursday after Chicago police used a stun gun on a 30-year-old pregnant Black woman who allegedley argued with officers. Police, on patrol in a Walgreens parking lot, used a stun gun on Tiffany Rent on June 5,  at the drugstore at 103rd Street and Michigan Avenue in the Roseland neighborhood.

Rent, along with her two young children and boyfriend, Joseph Hobbs, pulled into the parking lot and parked in a handicapped parking spot. Hobbs went into the store. Rent said she got out of the car to re-seat her 3-year-old when a police officer began writing her a $200 ticket. "He gave me the ticket and I threw the ticket on the ground," Rent said she got back into her car and closed the door. That's when, she said, the officer told her she was under arrest and used a Taser on her through the window. 

“I got scared, and closed the door. I didn’t hit him. I didn’t mean to harm him, or anything. He Tasered me through the window,” she said. She said the officers were aware of her condition because she is visibly pregnant. 

The police report alleges Rent cursed the officer and threw the shredded ticket in his face, then tried to drive off, despite the officer’s warning that she not move. (Do Not Move! Stay in the Handicaped Space-- right. It sounds like she was not under arrest and was within her right to leave - to move out of the parking space -bw)

After officers shocked her with a stun gun, Rent was taken into custody and treated at Roseland Community Hospital, where she claims other officers mocked her.

“They were laughing. They said … I know she’s pregnant. Then one of the other officers said I deserve it. Another officer said, ‘Go get Jesse Jackson,’” she said. “They were all laughing, like it was so funny.”

Also arrested was Joseph Hobbs, Rent’s boyfriend and the father of the child, who scuffled with officers. He was also charged with resisting arrest and simple assault.

The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the entire incident.

Rent and her attorney, meanwhile, will talk to reporters Thursday afternoon about their lawsuit. They also plan to call for a review of Police Department policy on the use of stun guns.