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A concertgoer is suing the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and the Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, alleging a deputy tased him several times while he was experiencing a medical emergency.
The lawsuit was filed by Charles Martin in Hamilton Superior Court Wednesday against Live Nation Worldwide Inc. (dba Ruoff Music Center), the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and Matthew Hyde, a deputy for the sheriff’s office.
Attorneys for Live Nation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The sheriff’s office doesn’t comment on pending litigation out of respect for the judicial process, Hamilton County assistant attorney Adam Willfond told The Indiana Lawyer.
According to the lawsuit, Martin was attending a Phish concert at Ruoff on Aug. 3, 2024, when he became overheated and suffered a medical emergency. During the emergency, Martin was brought into a medical trailer and strapped to a gurney.
Martin says that while on the gurney he was injected with 300 mg of ketamine against his will by agents or representatives of Live Nation. According to the lawsuit, Martin was held down by several people and tased multiple times by Hyde.
Martin has a cochlear implant and claims that the tasing by Hyde caused several injuries, including damage to his implant. He said he now suffers from tinnitus when the implant is used and afterward.
The suit argues that Hyde’s use of force was intentional and objectively unreasonable. He is suing defendants for federal civil rights violations, negligence and battery
Martin is seeking punitive damages from Hyde, Live Nation/Ruoff, and the sheriff’s office and is represented by attorneys Brandon Tate and Sam Krahulik.
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Sounds like the folks in the med tent assumed psychedelics when it may have been simple overheating? Strapped to a gurney, and Ketamine. That sounds overzealous and weird?
Very much so. Seems all involved need to be better trained at their jobs.
We can’t assume anything in this case (unlike the previous commenters) b/c there are 2 sides to this story…
-> Misuse of ketamine by EMS and police has become a big problem in this country. It’s further the case that police in the United States have tend to have problems differentiating medical conditions from drug impairment.
-> A close family member of mine was held by Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for “being intoxicated” despite being totally sober. (As was later proven by a blood test.) When trying to get this family member out of custody, it was clear that HCSO has a systemic inability to properly differentiate medical conditions from substance intoxication.
-> Matthew Hyde’s LinkedIn profile shows that he left Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office just a couple months after the alleged event occurred, which is suspicious.
-> 42 U.S.C. section 1983 claims can be very difficult to litigate. Attorneys are usually pretty selective about these types of cases and the 3 retained attorneys for plaintiff are well-respected.
I’m not giving HCSO nor Hyde any benefit of the doubt here.
I’ll bet there’s a video somewhere!