Humansville (MO) Police Serve and Protect

Elbert Breshears is an elderly man living in the small town of Humansville, in Polk County, Missouri.  His wife suffers from dementia, and it seems that Breshears has been trying, until very recently, to care for her in their home.

It sounds as though Mrs. Breshears had some sort of episode in which she knocked out a window of their house and may have run into the street.  Mr. Breshears called for an ambulance and went out into their yard to try and restrain his wife until the paramedics arrived.  While they were waiting, the husband had his hands on his wife's arm.  She was waving, I think he said, her shirt and calling for help.

Police arrived before the ambulance.

When police got there,"police car drove up, he bailed out ran over and knocked me down. He told me to get up, I told him I couldn't," he explained.

That's when Breshears says police got aggressive. "First thing, I know they grab me, threw me out there on the gravel. One of them sat down on my back, the other sat down on my head. They were trying to get handcuffs on me. I told them I can't get my hands up. I have no objection to being handcuffed," says Breshears.

When the ambulance did arrive, both Breshears and his wife were taken to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries, which included removing gravel from his facial wounds and getting stitches.

The Humansville police chief declined to appear on camera but insisted that Breshears is guilty of "elder abuse", resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer.

It is hard to see how the police officers who battered Elbert Breshears could have perceived him as a threat, or why they refused to listen to his side of the story, or why they seemed to have ignored the fact that he had called for help for his wife.  The population of Humansville is only about 1000.  I would guess that the officers knew Breshears and thus knew of his wife's condition. 

There may be a little more to the story as the report mentions that, Breshears says he first started having problems with police at the beginning of the year.  It sounds like the old man may have been perceived by the police -- and possibly the community, as either a troublemaker or someone who was being abusive to his ailing spouse.  Still, overall, I think the picture below captures the essence of the incident:

 

 A classic via Wolfgang's Vault