[WATCH] Family of Disabled Woman Settles Lawsuit But Says Livonia Police Refused to Apologize

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[WATCH] Family of Disabled Woman Settles Lawsuit But Says Livonia Police Refused to Apologize

October 10th, 2017

Awake Goy

LIVONIA, Mich. – A young woman with special needs says she thought she was going to die after police officers threw her to the ground and handcuffed her inside the Livonia Walmart.

When the Kozma family couldn’t get an apology from Livonia police, they sued the city and Walmart.

Those lawsuits have now been resolved, but the Kozma’s are upset that more isn’t being done to make sure this never happens again.

Jodi Kozma’s parents say what should have been a simple shopping trip, turned into their daughter being traumatized by a false accusation of shoplifting, and an aggressive and unnecessary arrest.

“What died with me that day, was just seeing the heartbreak that she suffered,” said Wendy Kozma.

She says her daughter may be 27-years-old, but due to a birth defect, she has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old. Jodi’s parents are her legal guardians, and they make sure Jodi is always accompanied by a family member on outings.

The Kozma’s have always stressed to their daughter that if someone ever tries to harm her she should find the nearest police officer.

“That was broken in an instant. In an instant,” said Wendy Kozma.

On August 3, 2012, Jodi’s grandma and aunt took her to the Livonia Walmart. But store loss prevention officers thought they saw Jodi putting a package of hair ties in her waistband.

In fact, Jodi had paid for those $3 hair ties, but that didn’t stop Walmart’s security team from calling the cops.

“She took nothing! She’d done nothing wrong,” said attorney Deborah Gordon.

Gordon says instead of calmly talking to family members or to Jodi, within ten seconds Livonia police officers were on top of Jodi, handcuffing her.

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