PDA

View Full Version : They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'

shemp
1st October 2007, 09:26 PM
Woman Who Died At Airport Was Rehab-Bound (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/01/national/main3313557.shtml)

A woman who died after being handcuffed and detained at the Phoenix airport was on her way to an alcohol rehabilitation program in Tucson, her family's lawyer said Monday.

Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, became irate Friday when she was late for a flight and a gate crew didn't let her on the plane. Officers handcuffed her behind her back and took her to a holding room, where she kept screaming, authorities said.

Gotbaum was wrestled to the ground as she fought back, reports CBS News correspondent Meg Oliver. She was subdued, handcuffed, and led away screaming, "I am not a terrorist!"

Maybe she thought she was Amy Winehouse?
Kaylee
2nd October 2007, 10:32 AM
Per link in OP:

Gotbaum, the mother of three, was the daughter-in-law of New York City's longtime public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum.

Since her mother-in-law is a politician, I expect this one to stay in the news.
The Man
2nd October 2007, 10:51 AM
As she apparently was unstable why was someone not traveling with her which might have prevented the "mishandling" by police? Last I read the extension chain for the hand cuffs was up against her neck but not warped around. It ma be best that she was not allowed to get on the plane, but a tragedy that no one was with her to help her through that troubled time.
Dancing David
3rd October 2007, 10:59 AM
Well most addicts aren't helped by much of anybody, who was supposed to escort her?

here i thought the post was going to be about Shemp and Goats Anonymous.
WildCat
3rd October 2007, 11:08 AM
The good news is she'll never have another drink!
Tiktaalik
3rd October 2007, 03:14 PM
How in the world would one get the chain from a pair of handcuffs around one's neck if one was handcuffed in back (as it says in the first post)? You try it...
Normal Dude
3rd October 2007, 03:33 PM
How in the world would one get the chain from a pair of handcuffs around one's neck if one was handcuffed in back (as it says in the first post)? You try it...

Maybe they switched when they got to the holding room?
Dancing David
7th October 2007, 06:06 AM
How in the world would one get the chain from a pair of handcuffs around one's neck if one was handcuffed in back (as it says in the first post)? You try it...


There are a number of different chains that can be used, the leg hobbles commonly called shackles, the 'belly belt' (which keeps hands low in front of the prisoner) and then there are various forms of 'handcuffs'. We won't know for a while.
mumchup
7th October 2007, 06:23 AM
At some point she called her husband on her cell and he heard her screaming, etc. So he says in the news reports, he called the airport and tried to convey that she had problems and needed careful treatment, but that he couldn't get them to understand the seriousness of her situation.
The whole thing is certainly a tragedy but... He sounded like he might be planning to sue over this. But who is more to blame? The airport for leaving her unattended, or the husband for letting her travel all alone if he knew she was unable to handle it?

As to how she managed to strangle herself, apparently she was cuffed behind her back and in addition those handcuffs were attached to a chain the hooked into the wall behind the bench in the holding cell. The whole thing is designed to keep the person sitting on the bench. It would seem from reports that in trying to maneuver the handcuffs around to the front, she managed to get herself caught(or something) on the other chain.
Unalienable
7th October 2007, 08:43 PM
How in the world would one get the chain from a pair of handcuffs around one's neck if one was handcuffed in back (as it says in the first post)? You try it...

If you're handcuffed behind your back, and you're even slightly limber, it's actually very possible to bring those cuffs to the front. The trick is you don't do it over the top--that would be very hard--you do it down below, by scrunching up your legs and putting them through the "hole" that your arms create. I know this because I did it the one time I was arrested. I don't know why I did it, maybe just trying to piss the cops off.

Now getting the chain around your neck, I'm not so sure about that, I can't say I've ever tried it.