Attorneys for a pregnant woman who was shocked by a stun gun during a dispute with police in the parking lot of a Far South Side Walgreens last week are expected to file a lawsuit in federal court later today.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Tiffany Rent, will name Chicago police as the plaintiffs following the June 5 incident, according to a news release from Saulter Tarver LLP.
Rent, 30, who is eight months pregnant, claimed a Chicago police officer shocked her after she tore up a parking ticket in the parking lot of a Walgreens in the 10300 block of South Michigan Avenue in the Roseland neighborhood.
But police say the officer warned Rent he would use the stun gun if she drove away after tearing up a parking ticket, throwing it at his face and yelling, "You ain't arresting (expletive)." The officer fired the stun gun as she put her into gear, according to a police report.
Just after the incident, when asked about the use of stun guns on a pregnant woman, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said: "Well, first of all, you can’t always tell whether somebody is pregnant. So, you want to use it where you are overcoming assault or preventing escape. That’s what it boils down to."
But Rent insisted that the officer who shocked her was close enough to see that she was pregnant. She said she's worried about her unborn son, especially because she lost two babies in the past. Rent is expected to join her attorneys at an afternoon news conference in their Loop office later today.
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