Court hears suit over altercation between police, autistic teen

On a normal day in 2017, Connor Leibel’s caretaker, Diane Craglow, took him to his sister’s piano lesson in Verrado.

Connor, who has autism, went outside to play in the park as he had plenty of times. At the time, Connor had a habit of “stimming” with a hair tie, said his parents.

Stimming is a slang term for selfstimulation, which people with autism may find useful as a way to cope with sensory overload or to help calm themselves down. People without autism may also stim.

Connor’s father, Kevin Leibel, said his son, who turns 20 this month, has gone through different stimming habits throughout his life. When Connor was 14, the family was spending $10 per month on hair ties, which Connor would break into a piece of string and use to stim.

That’s exactly what Connor was doing in a Verrado park in July 2017, which marked the beginning of a five-year ordeal after a police officer mistook Connor as using an inhalant.

The family filed a lawsuit, and now the case is in federal court.

According to court documents, Buckeye police Officer David Grossman passed by the park several times and became suspicious that Connor was using an inhalant drug since Connor had the hair tie close to his face. Grossman approached Connor and asked what he was doing. Connor told the officer he was stimming, and Grossman asked Connor if he had an ID. Connor told Grossman that he didn’t have an ID, and when Connor turned to walk away, an altercation ensued.

According to court documents, the two scuffled and both ended up on the ground. Grossman held Connor on the ground as he waited for backup. At this point, Connor’s caretaker, Craglow, went out to the park and tried to explain to Grossman what was going on. In the conversation between the two, Grossman appears to admit that he does not know much about autism.

That’s one of the core issues that the family is hoping to bring to light by taking the case to court, Connor’s mother, Danielle Leibel, said.

The family had positive interactions with police officers up until that point, Connor’s parents said. They were extremely upset upon hearing about the altercation and wish police officers had more thorough training to learn about people with disabilities.

The altercation left Connor with scratches and bruises on his face, back and legs. His ankle eventually swelled up to the size of a softball, developing a cyst that Connor had to get drained four times before the doctors decided that surgery was the best option.

Connor had the surgery about four months after the incident, and the cyst has stayed at bay since. But there’s always a chance that it could come back at any point in his life, Danielle Leibel said.

Before the altercation, Danielle and Kevin Leibel told Connor that, if he was ever in trouble, to look for someone in scrubs, a firefighter or a police officer. But now, they said Connor continues to be afraid of police officers.

An apology from Grossman, the officer, would go a long way in providing closure for Connor and helping him move on, his parents said. Connor remembers everything and continues to think about events and get upset about them years later.

It’s important for him to know that he wasn’t doing anything wrong by stimming, Danielle Leibel said. Children are allowed to play in parks, whether they have autism or not, she added.

Many companies that offer training have reached out to Danielle Leibel for her and her husband’s help and input in developing programs that focus on how police officers respond to people with mental health issues and disabilities. She’s had to turn down those offers due to the pending litigation but said she would consider them in the future. While she and her husband say they hope to help prevent these instances from happening in the future, it’s important at the same time that their family moves forward from the situation.

The trial began Monday. Representatives from Buckeye did not respond to a request for comment.