A family has sued three members of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the Warsaw-Lincoln Ambulance District over a incident in early April involving alleged assault.
What We Know: The civil suit filed on June 24th lists Donald Bellos, Susan Blaser, Brooke Bellos and Dylan Blaser as plaintiffs and Deputy Jacob Sebren, Deputy Hope Hearn and Undersheriff Kelly Lowe of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, the Warsaw-Lincoln Ambulance District and Kendra Zeiset as defendants.
The incident, as described in the lawsuit, occurred on April 1st, when Susan Blaser called 911 three separate times requesting assistance for her son, Donald Bellos after he had taken drugs and was believed to have access to a gun.
In the first of these calls, Susan claimed that Donald had threatened to harm himself and others, and that he was in a state of drug psychosis. The 911 operator transferred the call to Deputy Hope Hearn, with her allegedly telling Susan that “it’s not illegal to be suicidal.” Hearn allegedly ended the call and refused to respond to the scene.
The second call made by Susan requested an ambulance since Donald reportedly suffered an overdose. The third call was to tell operators where to find them in a county mart.
Emergency services and law enforcement arrived on the scene and Donald was put into an ambulance where Deputy Jacob Sebren reportedly put him in a jaw hold and Hearn tasered him. Donald was confused about his surroundings, fighting back with the deputies before Sebren punched him in the jaw and put him in a chokehold, as stated in the petition.
Donald’s family was told later to leave the area and that Donald was being taken to jail. Donald was transferred to the hospital but was given an “unnecessary” dose of ketamine before arriving at the hospital, according to the lawsuit.
After the incident, Brooke Bellos made a complaint to the Sheriff’s Office and requested the body cam footage under the Missouri Sunshine Law.
Undersheriff Kelly Lowe later provided footage to Brooke Bellos, with the plaintiffs saying they were not given a legal basis for the footage withheld.
What They’re Saying: Sheriff Eric Knox of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office has said that some of the plaintiffs’ claims are baseless and that the truth will come out in court.
Deputy Sebren was terminated in April after an internal investigation of the incident. Deputy Hearn was put on administrative suspension during the investigation. Sheriff Knox said that “Major Lowe did nothing wrong, was extremely professional and transparent.”
(Photo courtesy of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office)