A man who was tased, injured and arrested by police in front of his 6-year-old daughter after crashing his car during a diabetic emergency is suing the city of Sebastopol, California and three of its officers for excessive force and false imprisonment, among other claims.
In his lawsuit filed in federal court in California on July 24 (and obtained by Atlanta Black Star), Jeffrey Callaghan argues that it quickly became apparent to police officers who had responded to a 911 call about a suspected drunk driver veering between lanes on a local highway on July 24, 2025 that he was suffering from hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, which produces symptoms similar to intoxication, including disorientation and slurred speech.
But instead of accepting medical assessments of his condition, including breath and blood screenings showing he was not intoxicated, the officers conspired to pin serious criminal charges on Callaghan, including evading an officer, resisting arrest, and child endangerment, the complaint says, in order to minimize their own liability for harming him.
The day began brightly for Callaghan, who was enjoying spending time with his young daughter that included shopping for a toy she wanted at the mall and a stop at McDonald’s, where she enjoyed a Happy Meal and an ice cream cone, while he self-administered an insulin injection, the complaint says.
But as they proceeded to a local park, Callaghan, who has Type 1 diabetes, began to feel weak and then lost consciousness, swerving and driving erratically until he eventually drove his Ford pickup truck off the road into a ditch.
Following behind him at that point was Sebastopol Police Officer Forrest Whitehall, who suspected that Callaghan was intoxicated. His bodycam footage obtained by The Press Democrat shows that as he approached the truck he drew his gun and barked orders at Callaghan, including, “Put up your hands now!” and “Step out! Step out!” while the groggy Callaghan remained seated.
Callaghan, with his blood sugar falling dangerously low, appeared “lethargic and visibly in an altered mental state,” the lawsuit says. He moved slowly as he got out of the car, and did not immediately comply with Whitehall’s commands to “Go down to your stomach right now or I will tase you!” instead putting his hands in the air.
Whitehall fired his Taser in dart mode, delivering 50,000 volts of electrical shock to Callaghan as his daughter looked on, screaming, “Daddy!” The impaired man fell and was writhing on the ground as Whitehall ordered him to roll over on his stomach, warning “I will keep tasing you!”
Unsatisfied with Callaghan’s compliance, Whitehall tased him two more times, the police video shows, while his daughter, identified in the lawsuit as A.G.C., pleaded, “I don’t want you to hurt my daddy!”
A Sonoma County sheriff’s sergeant arrived on the scene as Whitehall was ordering Callaghan to put his hands behind his back, pulling on his left arm while pushing his face into the asphalt. The sheriff’s sergeant knelt on Callaghan’s shoulder and forced his right arm behind his back, breaking his arm, the complaint says.
“Stop resisting!” ordered Whitehall.
“I’m not resisting,” Callaghan can be heard saying. “Please … please … Please, Lord God. I’m sorry,” he said.
At this point Sebastopol Police officers Capt. James Hickey and Sgt. Cameron Fenske arrived, along with medical units from a local fire department. One grabbed his broken arm as they helped to lift up Callaghan, who screamed out in pain, and then the officers put him in the back of a patrol car, four taser barbs still attached to his body.
As the officers looked on, the fire department medics discerned that Callaghan was hypoglycemic and gave him glucose tablets to bring up his blood sugar, causing him to regain coherence, the lawsuit says.
When the officers began asking him questions, Callaghan confirmed that he was diabetic, had passed out due to low blood sugar, and said had not seen Whitehall’s flashing lights or purposely evaded or resisted his commands.
“I feel better now that she gave me some sugar,” he said. “My brain is working. But when you first put me in the car, I didn’t know what — I had no clue what was going on. The most important thing to me is my daughter. She’s OK? That’s my baby,” he said.
In the meantime, Fenske, Whitehall’s superior, had reached A.G.C.’s mother, Susana Visathep, on the phone. She confirmed that Callaghan, her ex, was diabetic, sometimes had such medical emergencies, and that she had a custody arrangement with him permitting him access to their daughter on weekends. She reportedly told Fenske, “I had allowed him to have her today,” which was a Wednesday.
After conferring amongst themselves about whether or not to charge Callaghan with DUI, Fenske and Whitehall, accepting that he was diabetic, “began to brainstorm other charges they might arrest him for,” the lawsuit says.
“Work the DUI, the child endangerment, and the pursuit, all that aspect,” Fenske directed Whitehall.
Callaghan was then taken to a hospital, while his daughter was sent to another, distressing them both, the lawsuit says.
At the hospital, Callaghan passed a breathalyzer test, registering .000 percent alcohol content, and also submitted to a blood draw that later proved negative. Finally released from the handcuffs after five hours, his arm was x-rayed and put in a cast and sling.
A nurse asked the officer, “Why are you doing this? He’s a type 1 diabetic,” the lawsuit says.
Fenske then advised Whitehall to book Callaghan at the county jail on charges of felony vehicular evading, felony child endangerment and resisting arrest, a misdemeanor.
Fenske also submitted a suspected child abuse report to the Child Protective Services, listing Callaghan as the abuser.
Callaghan’s bail was set high and “it took all of his savings to get home to see his daughter,” the complaint says.
Six months later, on February 10, 2025, the Sonoma County District Attorney rejected the charges against Callaghan.
The lawsuit argues that Whitehall used excessive force against Callaghan, who was not resisting when he was tased in violation of federal law. It accuses Whitehall, Fenske and Hickey of false arrest and unlawful detention, arguing that they detained him “long after any reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime had evaporated.”
Ignoring their training for the treatment of individuals experiencing diabetic emergencies, which all California law enforcement officers receive, the lawsuit contends that the three officers negligently and unreasonably used force that caused Callaghan serious harm, and then conspired to violate his civil rights while pursuing a criminal conviction that would insulate them from civil liability.
“It was not enough to have brutalized an innocent man in front of his six-year-old daughter. They did everything in their power to have him jailed, humiliated and separated from his child, the most important person in his life, all so they could avoid getting sued,” the lawsuit claims.
Callaghan and Visathep, as guardian of their daughter, are seeking a jury trial to determine compensatory, economic, and punitive damages against the city of Sebastopol, Whitehall, Fenske, Hickey, and 25 other as yet-unnamed officers involved in his arrest and detention.
“I try not to think about it every day,” Callaghan told The Press Democrat of the traffic stop. “It was one bad thing after another, like a nightmare. … They could have killed me in front of my daughter.”
Sebastopol Interim City Manager Mary Gourley said in an emailed statement:
“While the City generally does not issue public statements about pending litigation, it looks forward to defending its officers in court and responding to all allegations through the legal process.”
The defendants have 21 days after being served with the lawsuit, or until Aug. 26, to file a response.
Great Job Jill Jordan Sieder & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
