HUMANSVILE, Mo. — An elderly man who called an ambulance for his wife who suffers from dementia was instead brutally beaten by police, KSPR.com reports.
Elbert Breshears, 78, said police arrived before paramedics, and were immediately aggressive after pulling up, getting out of the cruiser, and approaching him and his wife, who had just knocked out a window.
“First thing I know, they grab me, threw me out there on the gravel,” he said. “One of them sat down on my back; the other sat down on my head. They were trying to get handcuffs on me. I told them I can’t get my hands up. I have no objection to being handcuffed.”
Soon after, the ambulance arrived and Breshears and his wife were taken to the hospital. He received stitches in his head, and bruises including a black eye.
Breshears has been charged with abuse of the elderly, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer.
“I don’t hit my wife,” he said. “I’ve lived with the woman for 47 years. I love the woman. I can’t help what she does.”
His wife is now is the hands of professional care. Breshears said he plans to press charges against the police department.