Man Has Seizure, Gets beaten by Cops for Resisting Arrest

Last December, Javier Ortega Jr. experienced a seizure while driving home, and crashed his vehicle into a rock wall in El Paso, Texas. His last memory before waking up in the hospital, was filling up his gas tank before heading home. When he did wake up, he found that he wasn’t just injured from the crash. He had been severely beaten as well.

It turns out that the police had tried to arrest Ortega after the crash. They claim he was driving donuts prior to the collision, and afterward appeared disoriented. They thought he was drunk or on drugs. Ortega tried to walk away from the scene before an officer forced him to the ground. He was then tasered three times and beaten with a baton for resisting arrest.

It took several officers to fully restrain him because no matter what they did, Ortega was still “tensing his arms, thrashing his legs and twisting his body.” When the paramedics arrived, they determined that Ortega had a seizure, and was in a postictal state. This state can last for several hours after a seizure, and often causes drowsiness, amnesia, nausea, combativeness, and confusion. Ortega is also lucky to be alive, because when the paramedics arrived they found him handcuffed and on his belly, which can easily suffocate a seizure victim.

After spending four days in the hospital, Ortega was arrested for DWI, resisting arrest, evading arrest, and interfering with public duties. In addition to several taser burns, his arms and legs were severely bruised, and he had three broken bones in his hands. Eventually the DWI charge was dropped, but despite the fact that the paramedics and the hospital claim that he had one of the worst seizures an epileptic can have, and despite the fact that his behavior can be explained by his condition, Ortega is still fighting the other charges.