Summit County Jail inmate hospitalized after being shot with

[WaTcHeR]

Tamaria Hickman was driving when the sheriff's deputy called Saturday night.

Her 21-year-old son Gregory Dillard had died.

''But we brought him back,'' the male voice told her. ''We revived him.''

Hickman tried to absorb the details and focus on the road at the same time.

Dillard had been in the county jail — she didn't even know that.

He had acted up as he was being released. He charged deputies. He was shot with a Taser. He collapsed. And now he was on life support at Akron General Medical Center.

The family had tried to prepare for such a phone call. Dillard had a history of mental illness, suffering from bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, she said.

He would stop taking his medication sometimes.

''He's a great kid,'' Hickman said today. ''But when he's not on his medication, he's a different person. Anybody would be a different person.''

Dillard of Akron remained in critical condition in the intensive-care unit at the hospital tonight and has not been able to communicate with his family. He may have suffered permanent brain damage, Hickman said.

Dillard had entered the county jail Feb. 16 on assault and marijuana possession charges, and was being held in the mental health unit, authorities said.

He was a familiar face. He had been there 11 separate occasions for various violent and drug-related crimes, including assault and domestic violence, authorities said.

He was scheduled to be released on bond and transported to Portage Path Psychiatric Emergency Services at about 6 p.m. Saturday.

But when deputies came to inform him that he was being released, they found him ''naked and jumping on his bunk inside his cell,'' according to authorities.

''He had urinated on the floor and flooded the cell, so [his] uniform was a mess,'' sheriff's spokeswoman Christine Croce said.

Dillard calmed down after being told he was being released. But he ''became aggressive, jumped up shouting obscenities and charged the deputies'' when they opened his cell to give him a clean uniform at 5:20 p.m., authorities said.

One of the deputies shot Dillard in the chest area with a Taser and stunned him once. He fell to the floor and was unresponsive.

Nursing staff revived him before he was taken to the hospital.

Sheriff's detectives are investigating the incident, but ''it doesn't appear that [the deputy] violated any of our policies'' when firing the weapon, Croce said.

The incident appears to be a case of ''excited delirium,'' she said. The term is used to describe deaths of suspects who are in police custody and are highly agitated or under the influence of drugs.

Hickman questioned why the deputy used the Taser at all. Dillard is 5-foot-6 and about 130 pounds, she said.

''I could subdue him all day every day,'' said Hickman, a single parent. ''They didn't have to Taser him . . . He's only 5-foot-6. I could see it if he were a big guy.''

She said she is troubled that her son is being painted as a monster because of the prior arrests and that some people have questioned the family.

Dillard didn't have a job and received Supplemental Security Income because of his mental illness, she said. He lived off and on with different family members, but it was difficult because he had a drug problem and would get violent when he didn't take his medication, she said.

''He has a loving family. But it's hard for us,'' said Hickman, whose 33-year-old brother James Hickman was shot to death in August 2006 in Akron.

For years, she said she had sought help for him.

''The system has failed him,'' she said. ''I've cried for help, cried for help and now we're here.''

Perhaps, the silver lining in this incident is that he will receive the help he needs, Hickman said.

Announcement delayed

Croce declined to release the names of the two deputies involved, saying the investigation is continuing. The deputy who fired the Taser was certified to use the weapon, she said.

He will be offered counseling and a few days off, she added.

The sheriff's office announced the incident in a three-page news release issued this afternoon — two days after Dillard was shot. There was a delay in releasing the news publicly because it occurred later on a Saturday and authorities investigated the incident ''to get a full picture of what took place,'' Croce said.

Deputies have stopped using the Taser temporarily ''until the Taser that was used has been shown to be working properly,'' authorities said.

Tasers fire barbs up to 35 feet and deliver an incapacitating 50,000-volt electrical shock. The weapon has been controversial because many people, including several in the Akron area, have died after being shocked by authorities.


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