LAKE CITY, Georgia - May 11, 2010 - A disabled man said Tuesday that he was handcuffed and tasered by police in Lake City for parking in a handicapped zone. Police said the man resisted arrest.

Fifty-four-year-old Chester Bradford has an implanted defibrillator for his heart. Bradford said he is disabled and is entitled to a handicapped parking permit.

Bradford said that last December while grocery shopping at a Lake City Kroger store, he pulled into a handicapped space and was questioned by police.

"I told him I could show him the papers," Bradford said.

According to the police report, Bradford showed the officer a black decal, which is different from a permanent blue decal or a red temporary decal. The officer thought the decal was fake.

Bradford said he told the officer he had lost decal and was given a photocopy, but the officer wrote him a ticket anyway.

Bradford said he refused to sign the ticket and was handcuffed.

According to the police report, Bradford struggled with the officer and that's when a second officer tasered him.

When it hit me it sounded like a gunshot and then I went out," Bradford recalled.

Bradford said the jolt of electricity from the Taser caused him to have a seizure. The police report said Bradford appeared to feign the seizure.

"I have seizures, I'm on seizure medicine," said Bradford.

Bradford appeared in court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to obstruction and the parking violation.

Some community leaders are calling for a thorough investigation into the incident.

"Here's a man who is handicapped who has had a number of serious surgeries. We're outraged, we're concerned about what happened here," said Michael Langford of the United Youth-Adult Conference.

"Mr. Bradford, because of his medical condition, because of the defibrillator he wears for his heart, he could have died," said Derrick Boazman.

The Lake City police chief said he didn't want to comment on the case, because it hasn't yet gone to court. The court date has been set for June.

Call and voice you outrage at this vicious, illegal, unlawful, criminal assault on an innocent citizen. Demand to know whatever happened to INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY? The thug cop who assaulted this innocent man presumed he was guilty, which is patently un-Amerikan. That is what Josef Stalin’s secret police did. Put the fear of the people into the hearts and minds of the thug police chief and his thug minions. Revolution Now! Independence Forever!

Lake City Police Department
Chief Steven Burch
404-366-8035