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A black hospital patient in Illinois says he was arrested while on a walk last month after police claimed he was trying to steal the IV that was hooked up to his arm to sell it online.<\/p>\n
Shaquille Dukes, 24, claims he was being treated for pneumonia at the Freeport Health Network Memorial Hospital in Freeport on June 9 when he went outside after \u201creceiving doctors orders to walk around.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his walk, he said he encountered \u201can overzealous, racist, security officer, who claimed that I \u2018was trying to leave the hospital to sell the IV equipment on eBay,’\u201d according to a June 17 Facebook post<\/a> he wrote of the incident.<\/p>\n Dukes said the security guard called the police to the hospital. When they arrived, the officers arrested Dukes\u2019s brother, who was with him at the time, before arresting Dukes.<\/p>\n The officers, according to Dukes, said he was \u201cbeing arrested for attempted theft, of the IV equipment that was clearly attached to my arm.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cofficers stood by and watched while my IV was removed on the sidewalk, and it was NOT by a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n The man alleges that when he told authorities he was being treated for pneumonia and asthma, an officer said to him, \u201cI don\u2019t care why you\u2019re here, you\u2019re going to jail,\u201d and proceeded to transport him.<\/p>\n During that time, Dukes claims the officers took his inhaler and that he suffered a seizure and an asthma attack. He said he \u201cpleaded with officers for almost 4 minutes to retrieve my inhaler\u201d before he became unresponsive, eventually getting his inhaler.<\/p>\n But the Freeport Police Department said a different series of events unfolded on June 9. In a news release posted June 18, the department said an officer was requested by a security guard to the scene, and three people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after a verbal dispute with the security guard.<\/p>\n \u201cSeveral social media posts have since been created which contain inaccurate information regarding the incident and departmental response. In one of the social media posts, an individual wrote \u2018officers stood by and watched while my IV was removed on the sidewalk, and it was NOT by a doctor,’\u201d police wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThis statement is misleading, as the IV was removed at the request of the subject by FHN medical personnel (not security or police).\u201d<\/p>\n