Settling of police suit on agenda

A mentally disabled man's family claims excessive force led to his vegetative state.

By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published November 8, 2007

TAMPA - The City Council will hold a closed session today to discuss settling a lawsuit by the family of a man left in a vegetative state after he was restrained by Tampa police officers in 1998.

The case is scheduled for a jury trial in March. If the city loses, it could cost millions of dollars.

The suit claims the seven officers used excessive force against Robert Magyar, and the Police Department failed to properly train the officers in how to deal with a mentally disabled person.

"We hope we can settle," said Assistant City Attorney Gary Glassman. "Whether that's possible or not, nobody knows yet."

Before the incident, Magyar, now 44, lived with his mother in Tampa and worked with her in her pet grooming shop. He was what family members describe as "a little slow."

Magyar committed no crime that night. He was waiting voluntarily with the police for an ambulance to arrive after an officer found him walking on Interstate 275 at 11 p.m. on Oct. 18.

According to court files, Magyar told Officer Salvatore Mazza he had high blood pressure and diabetes and was not feeling well and was walking to the hospital.

Mazza took Magyar to an abandoned gas station and called for an ambulance. While waiting, Magyar began to say he thought Mazza wanted to hurt him. Mazza tried to calm him, and when Magyar said he felt ill, Mazza let him out of the patrol car to get some air.

When the ambulance failed to arrive, Mazza made a second call. Sgt. Franklin Drees heard the call and drove to the gas station to assist Mazza. While Drees and Mazza talked, Magyar started to walk away. Mazza ordered him to stop, and Magyar came back. But he walked away again a short time later and ignored orders to stop.

Mazza and Drees chased Magyar and grabbed his arms. Magyar struggled, saying that he had not done anything wrong and wanted to go home. Drees then used "leg sweeps" to get Magyar to the ground. When Magyar continued to struggle, the officers called for backup.

Officers who arrived at the scene testified to using "knee blasts" and "pain compliance techniques" to restrain Magyar.

In internal affairs interviews, officers said they continued to use force after Magyar was handcuffed. They also said they used their body weight to hold him down after he was handcuffed and his legs were bound with rope. They said when Magyar's body went limp, they rolled him over and he was not breathing.

Later, during depositions, they contradicted those statements.

While Magyar regained some consciousness in the ambulance, he was in total cardiac and respiratory arrest when he arrived at the hospital. He has been in a vegetative state since. The police internal affairs investigation cleared the officers.

After about six months in the hospital, the family moved Magyar to his sister Jeannette Thompson's home in Tarpon Springs. His mother closed her business and moved from Tampa to care for her son. The family now lives in Tennessee.

Family members could not be reached Wednesday, and William Daniel, their attorney, said he had no comment.

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

[Last modified November 8, 2007, 00:29:53]