The family of a 16-year-old with autism is furious after they claim he was unlawfully handcuffed and restrained by police while having a seizure on January 31. The family of David Ramos of Fresno, California, say they dialed 911 for help when he began seizing in the bathroom of a fast food restaurant, according to ABC News. But when responding officers arrived, the family was shocked when they treated the teen with force instead of medical aid.
Ramos had just left a doctor's office with his mother, Lourdes Ponce, and his younger sister when the family stopped in to eat at El Pollo Loco.
Ponce told ABC News that the teen had gotten a checkup after having several seizures, but experienced another unexpectedly while inside the restaurant's bathroom.
"I stood outside the door, I heard him hit the floor. I tried to open the door but it was locked, that's when I asked for help," Ponce said. "We called paramedics for help, we did not call police. He was not hurting anybody; he was having a seizure."
However, authorities told a different story.
According to police, Ramos was screaming and threatening to hurt himself and his family. A 911 call made by Ramos' sister did seem to suggest he was behaving aggressively as he came out of the seizure.
"He's being very combative," his sister said in a recording obtained by ABC 7 News. "He's just 16 years old and he's in the restroom and not responding."
Footage from an officer's body cam also captured police struggling to put the teen into handcuffs while his mother and sister looked on, visibly upset.
Eventually, police were able to remove Ramos from the restaurant -- but unfortunately, things only escalated from there.
"He has autism! He has epilepsy! Stop it!" his mother can be heard saying in the video.
Ramos then begins to panic, and vomits as officers hold him while pinned against a police car.
"[The police] saw that my son was throwing up and instead of helping him so that he wouldn't choke on his vomit, they had him on the ground in handcuffs," Ponce recalled with anger.
The mother ran to her car to grab papers detailing her son's medical history, which included information about his epilepsy.
According to Ponce, it was only at this point that officers released the teen and emergency medical services were finally able to take him to the hospital for treatment.
As of February 2, Ramos was still being treated for his epileptic attacks at Valley Children's Hospital in Madera, California. Ponce told ABC News that her son is traumatized by what happened to him, and has had a hard time receiving treatment from medical staff after the incident.
Ramos is expected to make a full recovery, but his mother is still angry over why her son was mistreated in the first place.
Ponce claims that police came to the hospital later that day with a certificate of release form, which stated that Ramos will not be arrested upon release from the hospital. Still, she says they have yet to apologize.
Instead, Fresno Police issued the following statement this week: "This case is currently under Administrative Review. The review will include the examination of all the information pertaining to the officer's contact including Body Worn Cameras."
For now, it is not known when Ramos will be released from the hospital.
