Autistic Urbandale Teen Who Was Tased Had Earlier Encounters with Police, Say Reports

The 15-year-old autistic Urbandale boy who was shocked with Taser at a Johnston movie theater this month has had two violent emotional meltdowns in the past year, according to police records.

The teen is accused in Polk County juvenile court of assault with intent of injury on a peace officer, disorderly conduct, fifth-degree theft, assault and interference with official acts after a scuffle with a Johnston police officer.

The boy's parents, upset that a Polk County Sheriff's deputy used a Taser on him and that he was taken to juvenile jail, took their story to KCCI-TV.

After the incident, the boy, who has autism but is high-functioning and attends school, was held in the Polk County Juvenile Facility for more than a week. At one point, his mother said he was being monitored as a suicide risk. He's now home, under house arrest, and cannot return to Urbandale High School for the rest of the year.

Police Training for People with Autism

The controversy has prompted questions about whether Johnston police acted appropriately, and whether police need more training to deal with people with autism. 

Urbandale and Johnston police train together once a year on dealing with people with mental illnesses or disabilities, but Urbandale Chief Ross McCarty said they have not had any specific training on autism in recent years. 

McCarty said when someone is out of control or violent, as the boy quickly became, police officers are trained to protect themselves and the public.

"I think the officer acted admirably and I'm sorry to hear he was injured," he said.

Teen's Previous Encounters With Police

At Patch's request, McCarty provided police reports of two incidents in the spring of 2011, in which the teen was involved in fights. There also were two more occasions last fall when police were called to the boy's home by his parents saying he was out of control and violent.

At the same time, he appears in reports to be child-like, calling for his "mommy" and becoming upset because school officials told him he couldn't wear a necklace he had made to school.

March 1, 2011: Urbandale High School Resource Officer Curt Vajgrt investigated a fight at the request of the boy's parents, who said he'd been assaulted by two older boys while he was walking home from middle school.

He'd been punched in the eye at Lions Park, in front of the high school and his eye was red and swollen shut when a police officer arrived to take an initial report. The boy told the officer that two older boys were following him and when he asked them why, they assaulted him.

The next day, one of the older boys came to Vajgrt at school and told him he'd been in a fight. However, the two high school boys told a different tale.

They said that one was showing the other his belt when the middle-school boy yelled at them, calling them a slur used against gay people. They asked him what he said and he repeated it, and began to throw punches at one of the boys, according to the police report. 

The high-school boy said although he was taller than the middle-schooler, the younger boy was "super strong" and that the younger boy picked him up and then slammed him hard back onto the ground.

In his report, Vajgrt said he could not determine which of the teens was the aggressor, so the case was sent to juvenile court services for an opinion.

Two months later, the autistic boy was labeled the aggressor in another fight.

Standing Up For His Friend

May 11, 2011: Police and a rescue unit are summoned to Urbandale Middle School. There had been a fight in the boys' locker room and the boys were separated. 

The incident began when two boys accidentally bumped into each other. The situation escalated and the boys began calling each other names, according to police reports.

The autistic teen is friends with one of the boys and he "stood up for his friend by punching" the other boy, the police report said. 

The autistic teen, who was lethargic and who had suffered a concussion in the past, was taken to Blank Children's Hospital. He later was charged with assault in juvenile court.

Meltdown At Home

Sept. 27 2011: Jeri Pilmer, the teen's mother, calls 911. She tells the dispatcher she has a 13-year-old son who is having "a meltdown" and that he is violent. The dispatcher's log says: "Mom is trying to hold him so he isn't punching his dad. Dad is holding his legs. RP is yelling for help. Mom just disconnected."

When the Urbandale police officer arrives, she saw two males on the cement wrestling. She tried to help the father restrain the boy. Three officers managed to get the teen's arms cuffed behind his back and his legs restrained, according to the report.

The boy began to calm down when they got a cold pack to put on the back of his neck. Once he was calm, the handcuffs were removed and the officer asked the teen what caused the meltdown.

He told her he wore an arrowhead necklace to school and school officials told him it was considered a weapon so he couldn't wear it any more. The arrowhead was about five inches long and the boy had carved it, the report said.

Medics took him to Iowa Lutheran Hospital.

Sept. 28, 2011: The next night there was another emergency call from the family's home. The dispatcher's log says they "can hear people yelling and screaming about throwing into glass and people choking others - male between male. Can hear a female telling someone to let someone else go."

"Line disconnected. Son is in the mom's bedroom. Have the dad back on the phone. Dad advised that son was punching him," the log says.

A mobile crisis team is sent to the home.

The boy eventually calmed down and agreed to go back to his room for the rest of the evening, according to the dispatcher log. "Parents were advised on how to obtain a court order for their son to get full-time professional help."

Police Chief McCarty said the Polk County Mobile Crisis team is a cooperative effort between Eyerley Ball and Broadlawns Hospital to provide emergency intervention in cases of mental illness or disability. "We're very fortunate to have that in Polk County," he said.

The boy's family complained that Johnston police would not call the mobile crisis team after the incident at the theater, but McCarty said "mobile crisis is off the table if they're violent."

The Frustration of Autism

Steve Muller, executive director for The Homestead in Altoona, which provides various services for autistic teens and young adults, said autism is a neurologically, genetically-based intellectual disability that impairs how people gather and process information. The syndrome causes problems in social skills and communication.

"This is not a violent gene. This is a challenge for somebody to understand communication and social skills. When we can't understand or we can't communicate, we get frustrated. Any of us do," he said. 

You can follow the progression of this story and join the conversation about it on Patch: 

UPDATE: Urbandale Man Facing Charges After Police Use Taser on Autistic Son in Johnston Incident

Video, Audio Recordings Show Struggle Between Police Officer, Autistic Teenager

Autistic Teen Is on Suicide Watch After Arrest, Says Mom