Let me preface this article by saying that most police officers are dedicated individuals who serve their communities professionally. However, especially in red states, that is not always the case.

When Lonnie Tinsley of El Reno, Oklahoma, called 911 to ask for medical assistance for his disabled, bed-ridden grandmother, he couldn’t have dreamed it would end with police tasering the 86-year-old woman twice, stepping on her oxygen hose until she couldn’t breathe, and sending her to a psychiatric hospital for six days.

Yet that’s what a lawsuit (PDF) filed in a federal court in Oklahoma this week alleges.

According to the lawsuit, in December, 2009, Tinsley came by his grandmother’s apartment to see if she was doing alright in the midst of a winter storm. When she wasn’t able to tell him if she had taken her medication, Tinsley called 911 and asked responders to send medical technicians over to evaluate her.

But instead of an ambulance, the lawsuit alleges, "as many as 10 El Reno police" arrived and "pushed their way through the door."

At that point, 86-year-old Lona Varner told police to "get out of her apartment." That’s when officer Thomas Duran, described in the lawsuit as the "leader" of the police unit, allegedly told another officer to "taser her."

When Tinsley responded "Don’t tase my granny!" the officers threatened to taser him instead, the lawsuit states.

In his police report, officer Durgan asserted that Varner "took a more aggressive posture in her bed," evidently causing him to fear for his and his officers’ lives.

Police then handcuffed Tinsley and took him to a waiting squad car. They released him without charge some time later. Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleges, officers "stepped on [Varner’s] oxygen hose until she began to suffer oxygen deprivation."

Officers then fired a taser at her, hitting her twice, causing her to pass out, the lawsuit states… [emphasis added]