Stow and Woman Tasered by Police Fail to Reach Agreement in Federal Lawsuit

The 23-year-old Akron woman who filed a Federal lawsuit against the city of Stow seeking $250,000 in damages rejected Stow's offer to settle for $10,000 May 8, according to a Fox 8 News Cleveland story. 

The Akron woman, Chelsea Garrett, who was by  Officer Jesse Reedy, who , filed the Federal lawsuit claiming police brutality in March. 

On Nov. 5, Garrett was charged with reckless operation, a minor-misdemeanor, and obstruction official business, a second-degree misdemeanor by Stow and charged with a DUI in Akron for bouncing off a median wall on S.R. 8, hitting a vehicle in Akron and leaving the scene of the accident. When she was in Stow, she almost swiped a cruiser Nov. 5, according to the .

on Stow Patch:

“I would never deny that, I was scared watching the video, seeing myself drive like that,” Garrett told Fox 8 News Cleveland. 

Garrett said she is a diabetic, weighs 90 pounds and on Nov. 5 she was taking an over-the-counter medicine for a cold.

Reedy, who has been on Stow's force four and a half years, told the Use of Force committee (made up of three Stow officers), initially it did not seem like the woman was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or in diabetic shock. 

"Yeah, someone that size is not so much really that I think that she is a huge threat, but I realize that she can still hurt me, she can bite me, she can scratch me," said Reedy during an interview with the Use of Force Committee. "She knew what I was saying and she just didn't care ... she didn't want to listen to it."

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"If an officer perceives a threat through the totality of circumstances, he/she does not have to wait until they are harmed to deploy the Taser," the committee said in its ruling.

Garrett pleaded guilty to her charges in Stow, but said she wants to change the philosophy of the use of Tasers. 

“Different policies, different training, I want to make sure that everyone can feel safe because I don’t trust the police anymore, and I’ve never had a trust issue with police or authoritative figures in my life,” she explained to Fox 8 News. 

Police Chief Louis Dirker said he cannot comment on the case.

"We support the actions of the officer and believe he acted in accordance with training and policy," said Law Director Brian Reali.

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