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Lawsuit: CMPD negligent in incident that injured woman

CHARLOTTE — The grandmother of a woman who was seriously injured in the backseat of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department patrol car is suing three CMPD officers, the department, the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County almost three years after the incident that left the woman needing 24-hour care.

The lawsuit says officers had picked up Tanisha Williams, who was 18 at the time, for allegedly shoplifting on Dec. 5, 2011, and put her in the back of a patrol car.

It says that Williams had a history of mental illness, including attempted suicide, and that after officers put her in the back of the patrol car she hit her head against the window repeatedly, then wrapped the seat belt around her neck and tried to strangle herself.

"Tanisha is alive--but she has no enjoyment of life," said attorney William Harding after he filed the lawsuit Friday in Mecklenburg County Superior Court.

An internal investigation by the Police Department cleared the officers of any wrongdoing, but the lawsuit says the officers should have intervened and were negligent in allowing Williams to injure herself.

"They are sworn to protect and serve even those who desire to hurt themselves. Simply put, all they had to do was take her out of that back seat," Harding said.

CMPD released a statement saying they continue to have Williams in their thoughts and prayers but that it would not be appropriate to comment on the lawsuit.

A spokesman says all three officers named in the lawsuit are continuing to work at CMPD.