Knife-Wielding Grandma... your thoughts

Published: August 2, 2009

WHITEHALL, Ohio—

Shoppers outside a Whitehall Walmart used their phones to record the action that unfolded after police were called to deal with a woman in her eighties carrying an open knife and making threats to harm passing people.

Stan Brown photographed the incident as a police officer disarmed the frail woman. He showed NBC 4’s Mike Bowersock the images of the woman being pinned to the ground.

“She didn’t even ask her to drop the knife, the woman told her when the cop came charging at her she said I’m not going to cut you, I’m not going to cut you, she was just calling her daughter’s name out.“

But a close scrutiny of the video shows that the female officer did ask the woman to put the knife down.

“Ma’am, can you put the knife down, put the knife down for me.“ she can be heard to say.

When a crowd formed, officers called for backup to insure no civilians interfered on behalf of the elderly woman.

“II believe it could have been taken care of a lot easier than that, I kind of think that was too much force with her being that old.“

But while onlookers thought the officers were too forceful, Dr. Richard Weinblatt, director of the Insitute for Public Safety, thinks the officers did the appropriate thing, even knowing it might look bad.

“It’s not pretty but when we’re looking at what could ultimately happen in that situation the age can’t really be a big factor, it’s a public relations nightmare in some ways, but the officer did what she had to do.“

The woman with the knife, Virginia Dotson, was treated in the ER for a scrape on the head. She was released from the hospital and she was not charged with anything by police.

Her daughter explained to NBC 4 that she had left her mother belted in their car while she ran into the Walmart for a purchase necessary in the move she was making with her mother. She was not concerned because wouldn’t be gone long and her mother doesn’t know how to open seatbelts. But in the move they were making, the Dotson family was moving kitchen supplies and utensils to their new location. Mrs. Dotson found a kitchen knife in the car, cut the seatbelt off and took it with her as she got out of the car and began looking for her daughter.

I think the cop did what she needed to do. People can be dangerous, no matter what their age. She was told to put down the knife, she didn't, so they took care of it. It couldn't have been that rough if she was treated for a scrape on her head and released.

I agree Lima Bean, the police have to be on alert at all times, when they let their guard down, someone gets hurt, then the police is sued. I'm sorry she is elderly, but that's the way it's done. One more point.......just how hot was it outside? Why wasn't the daughter arrested for keeping her elderly mother locked in the stifling hot car knowing she couldn't get out of the seatbelt. That's cruel.

But in the move they were making, the Dotson family was moving kitchen supplies and utensils to their new location. Mrs. Dotson found a kitchen knife in the car, cut the seatbelt off and took it with her as she got out of the car and began looking for her daughter.

So what theyre saying is that ALLLL this could have been avoided with duct tape?

I agree she shouldnt have left her mother in the car. Had the mother been a child or a dog, she would have been held accountable.

As for the police, I firmly believe they handled the situation appropriately.


And btw..

She was not concerned because wouldn’t be gone long and her mother doesn’t know how to open seatbelts.

o yes hell she DOES.

If Sally was around I'm sure she would have let them borrow some duct tape.

Ohio Cops Defend Slamming 84-Year-Old With Knife to Ground

WHITEHALL, Ohio — An Ohio police department says it has received scores of calls from around the country complaining about a YouTube video showing an officer taking an 84-year-old woman to the ground.

Police Chief Richard Zitzke in the Columbus suburb of Whitehall says the officer did what she had to do when the woman was seen holding a steak knife in a Walmart parking lot on Aug. 1. Police say the woman has Alzheimer's.

Zitzke says police have tried to explain their side to callers from as far as Texas and California.

Some have called the white officer a racist. The woman was black.

But Stan Brown of Columbus, the bystander who shot the video with his phone, says he believes no racism was involved. The 29-year-old black man says he now feels badly for the officer.


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