Edina officials deny claim that police asked for man in crisis be injected with ketamine
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The city of Edina is continuing to deny any responsibility for an incident where police violently restrained a man, tased him and asked paramedics to inject him with a sedative after he called 911 for help while struggling with anxiety in 2019.
A spokesperson for the city of Edina also contends that the decision to administer the sedative was made by a paramedic, not a police officer. However, a police report shows that an officer requested paramedics to respond with the medication “in order to gain control of the male.”
Kyle Moore, who was then 27, didn't commit any crimes or threaten anyone before police officers chased and tackled him in a Southdale Mall department store. Moore said in a recently filed federal lawsuit that he suffered from numerous health concerns due to his treatment by officers, including chronic back and neck pain, circulatory issues and damage to his kidney. He said it also exacerbated his already-existing anxiety and PTSD.
In a court filing, the city of Edina said that officers responded after Moore was panicking, “having a mental health breakdown and required medication and needed to be hospitalized for psychiatric help.”
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Kyle Moore’s attorney, Ed Shaw, said that dispatch didn’t provide officers with any information that Moore needed hospitalization and that it didn’t appear in his report.
On Oct. 6, 2019, Moore called 911 because he was anxious that two men had asked to use his phone near the bus stop outside the mall. He told dispatch that he was on new meds and “stable.” In his police report, officer Jason Behr said he talked with Kyle about his plans to check into treatment, but that Behr went onto a higher priority call before again tracking Moore to the Southdale Center mall.
Behr and another officer then pursued Moore into the Macy’s store at the mall. Video surveillance shows them appearing to point tasers at him as he backs up with his hands in the air.
After Moore bumped into a display case and started to run, officers tackled him. As more officers arrived, they piled onto Moore and held down his limbs. Moore was under restraint on the ground for more than 13 minutes with a spit mask on his face and his legs in a hobble.
Surveillance video shows officers and paramedics loading Moore’s limp body onto the gurney as two officers appear to fist bump.
In their court filing, Edina denies “placing body weight” on Moore and denies “injuring [Mr. Moore] in any way.” The city said a paramedic “administered a sedative due to [Mr. Moore’s] vigorous resistance and concerns that his profound agitation could result in a life-threatening condition.”
Medical records seen by MPR News show that a doctor who evaluated Kyle Moore after the incident found that he “had a high probability of imminent life or limb-threatening deterioration.”
The city also said that the decision to inject Moore with ketamine was made “solely by the paramedic” and that they have “no information suggesting that the officers or paramedic improperly caused injury to Mr. Moore or that any officer or paramedic acted improperly.”
But one of the responding officers, Officer Jaren Zech, wrote in his report on the incident that he “requested medics to respond with medication in order to gain control of the male.”
When asked about that statement, Edina spokesperson Jennifer Bennerotte said in an email that “requesting medics to come to the scene with medication is a far cry from making the actual decision to administer the ketamine.”
Bennerotte said “the decision to administer ketamine was a medical call made entirely by the paramedic based on his medical judgment at the scene.”
Surveillance video obtained by MPR News shows Edina Fire paramedics appearing at the scene with a gurney. Less than a minute later, a firefighter kneels down amidst the officers restraining Moore and appears to inject him with what reports would later describe as ketamine, the powerful sedative that’s been tied to in-custody deaths. A police training expert consulted by MPR News said he didn’t see any first responders check Moore’s vitals.
Kyle Moore’s mother, Lisa Moore, was at the scene as up to ten officers restrained her son on the ground for more than 13 minutes. She remembers paramedics arriving and injecting him with something, but didn’t see them check his pulse or or vitals.
Moore’s attorney Ed Shaw said “the only medication that would be used to gain control of someone was ketamine, it is clear that officer Zech directed that ketamine be used.”
“One would hope that the city would take some responsibility for what happened, would make some effort to change how their officers respond to calls for help from law-abiding citizens,” Shaw said. “Unfortunately, the city continues to deny any wrongdoing, and to make statements that are contradicted by the audio and video evidence, and the reports of their own officers.”
Moore had traveled to Southdale Center mall in Edina that day with plans to meet with his mother. He was carrying his Bible, a jar of jam for his grandmother and a bouquet of flowers for his mother when officers chased him through the store and tackled him.
Moore and his family have said the incident has changed their lives, eroded their trust in police and public officials and caused Moore lasting physical damage. They hope the lawsuit filed in federal court brings Kyle Moore some closure and healing.
The city of Edina’s spokesperson declined all additional requests for comment from city officials, police Chief Todd Milburn and Edina fire Chief Andrew Slama. The spokesperson said the city doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
The city said in a statement that they plan to provide “additional facts supporting the officers’ actions” in court.
MPR News reached out directly to Edina Mayor James B. Hovland and council members Kate Agnew, Carolyn Jackson, James Pierce and Julie Risser, but hasn’t received any responses from them.