DALLAS - Police have launched an investigation into the arrest of a stroke victim.
Dianne Irons slurs her words and has trouble walking. Twenty years ago, Irons had a stroke that impaired her speech.
Officers were called to her home because she and her nephew were having an argument over living arrangements. According to Irons, when officers arrived, they talked to her for a little while and then asked her to step out onto her porch, which was when she arrested for public intoxication.
“I told them I don't drink," she said.
However, she said officers told her she appeared to "have been drinking or maybe under the influence" of drugs.
She called Ben Irons, her son, to let him know police were at the home. He said he then tried to explain to officers his mother was a stroke victim and not drunk. When he arrived at the house, officers wouldn’t listen to him, he said.
“The officer told me to sit down and if I said one more word that I was going to be arrested," her son said.
He said he tried to show police his mother's medical records that show she goes to speech therapy.
“And I got arrested for that," he said of his attempt.
He was released and not taken to jail, but Dianne Irons was hauled off to a detoxification center. According to a police report, Officer Latasha Moore arrested Irons and issued a nearly $400 ticket because "she had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and breath smelling of an alcoholic beverage."
"She just came over here with a chip on her shoulder and hauling people off to jail," her son said.
Ben Irons also said he tried to tell detention officers about his mother's condition, but they, too, wouldn't listen.
Dianne Irons spent six hours in detention before finally being released. The family has complained to the department's internal affairs unit, which is investigating.
E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com
