A US hospital patient claims he was racially profiled after he was arrested outside an Illinois hospital.
Shaquille Dukes was still wearing a hospital gown and attached to an IV when he was approached by a security guard on 9 June.
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Dukes was being treated for pneumonia and asthma but was cleared by a doctor to go for a walk outside provided he did not leave the grounds of FNH Memorial Hospital.
He says the hospital security guard asked him, his brother, and a third man, to approach his vehicle which took Dukes off the hospital grounds.
In a post on Facebook Dukes says the guard accused him of "trying to leave the hospital to sell the IV equipment on eBay," and then called the police.
Police then arrested Dukes, his brother and their friend on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting or obstructing a police officer.
"Officers stood by and watched while my IV was removed on the sidewalk and it was NOT by a doctor," he wrote on Facebook.
He also claims police took his rescue inhaler and refused to give it back to him, despite being aware he was being treated for asthma and pneumonia. While on his way to the police station, Dukes had a seizure and an asthma attack.
"I pleaded with the officers for almost four minutes to retrieve my inhaler from the transporting officer and finally when I became unresponsive it miraculously appeared," he wrote.
Freeport Police released their own statement on the arrest.
The police department says the IV was removed at the request of hospital staff and a complete review is being completed.
"The Freeport Police Department urges the public to reserve judgment while a complete review of the incident is performed."
Newshub.
