Police ignored pregnant womans pleas for medical help VIDEO By CHRISTINE
VENDEL The Kansas City Star
Police tape of the arrest of Sofia Salva | video
Two Kansas City police officers repeatedly ignored a pregnant womans claims
that she was bleeding and needed medical help, a police videotape released
today shows.
Sofia Salva told officers nine different times during the first five minutes
of the stop that she was bleeding or wanted to go to a hospital. After the
ninth request, a female officer asked: How is that my problem?
Salva requested help at least 12 more times during the 30-minute encounter
nearly a year ago. The officers arrested her for traffic violations, including
a fake temporary license tag, and outstanding city warrants.
The next morning, after finally being released, she delivered a premature
baby boy who lived one minute, according to a lawsuit Salva filed Friday.
The officers went into this with a preconceived idea of who and what they
were dealing with and they were wrong, said Salvas attorney, Andrew Protzman.
Its tragic.
The lawsuit prompted police to open an internal investigation.
We want to understand exactly what happened, department spokesman Capt.
Rich Lockhart said Tuesday. Its a matter of trust with the community. 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.
The Jackson County lawsuit names the individual officers and the department
for wrongful death, personal injuries and failure to provide medical
assistance. The suit seeks actual damages in excess of $25,000 and punitive
damages to punish and deter such conduct in the future.
One of the officers, a four-year veteran, could not be reached for comment.
The other officer declined to comment. He has worked for the department less
than two years.
Police released a copy of the officers patrol car videotape after The Star
requested it under the Missouri Sunshine Law.
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