An Atlanta veteran with a diagnosis of dementia met a tragic end after a police incident left him with a fatal spinal cord injury. Carl Grant, 68, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam, was body-slammed by a police officer in Birmingham, Alabama, causing paralysis that would lead to his death six months later, WABE reported.
Suffering from early-onset dementia exacerbated by PTSD and exposure to Agent Orange, Carl Grant left his home for groceries on Super Bowl Sunday 2020. He forgot his cellphone and unintentionally drove to Birmingham, mistaking a stranger's house for his own. Despite police officers at the scene recognizing signs of dementia, Grant was told to leave instead of receiving medical evaluation. Shortly after, misidentifying another home as his, he was shoved down porch steps and arrested by Officer Vincent Larry, who claims Grant assaulted him during the fall – a charge the officer later recanted during internal investigations. Grant was taken to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital for treatment but faced yet another ordeal.
At the hospital, Grant was flipped over in a "hip toss," a technique not sanctioned by police training, injuring his neck which led to paralysis, according to the body-camera footage and hospital surveillance. Larry, who has since received a 15-day suspension and retraining but is no longer employed by the city, now works part-time in nearby Graysville's police department. In an overture of forgiveness, Graysville Police Chief McKinsley Marbury offered Larry another opportunity, saying, "There are so many things that we ask the Lord to forgive us for, that we probably are not worthy of forgiveness for. But He does. And if He can do it for us, we, as people, should be able to do it for someone else," as told by WABE.
The death of Carl Grant stands among the more than 1,000 fatalities in the US following police use of non-lethal force maneuvers. His death laid bare the need for better training of first responders in recognizing and dealing with vulnerable populations, as argued in a civil lawsuit filed by Grant's family. A judge dismissed the lawsuit on procedural grounds, but the appeals court has ordered mediation, as detailed in the court documents.
Birmingham's administration has remained largely silent regarding this case. Neither Mayor Randall Woodfin nor Police Chief Scott Thurmond, both of whom have previously spoken against police brutality, agreed to discuss this case with the press. The story, invoking reflection upon policing methods and their consequences, continues to unfold as the appeal process moves forward. Grant's ordeal and subsequent death highlight ongoing concerns over police interactions with mentally or physically vulnerable individuals.
