From The Star: Two Kansas City police officers repeatedly ignored a pregnant woman’s claims that she was bleeding and needed medical help, a police videotape released Friday shows.
Sophia Salva told officers nine different times during the first five minutes of the stop that she was bleeding or wanted to go to a hospital. After the ninth request, a female officer asked: “How is that my problem?”
Salva requested help at least 12 more times during the 30-minute encounter nearly a year ago. The officers arrested her for traffic violations, including a fake temporary license tag, and outstanding city warrants.
The next morning, after finally being released, she delivered a premature baby boy who lived one minute, according to a lawsuit Salva filed Friday.
The lawsuit prompted police to open an internal investigation. “We want to understand exactly what happened,” department spokesman Capt. Rich Lockhart said Tuesday. “It’s a matter of trust with the community. We want to make sure the community trusts us to get to the bottom of this regardless of the way it reflects on the police department.”
(Video of the arrest tape is available with the article.)
