Police Break Into House To Take Child To the ER

by Ann Shibler ori-published 01-08-2008

Eleven-year-old Jon Shiflett, a typical boy, was horsing around and grabbed the door handle of a slowly moving car driven by his sister, a few doors down from the family home. He slipped and hit his head hard on the concrete. Jon's father, Tom, was first on the scene, assessed the situation, picked up his son, carried him home and applied ice to Jon's head. The elder Shiflett was a medic in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. With that experience, he is quite capable of assessing a whole host of injuries and properly monitoring an injured patient. He reported that Jon's eyes were not dilated, and that the child appeared to be okay except for some cuts, the bump on his head and a developing black eye.

In the meantime, however, someone — a nosy neighbor, perhaps — had called a rescue squad. They arrived at the Shiflett home and examined the boy. The boy's parents, however, refused transport to the hospital for treatment. According to Mr. Shiflett, it wasn't necessary. "I told them I didn't call for an ambulance. We're taking care of it," he said.

Rebuffed, the paramedics retreated from the house, and contacted social services who made a surprise visit to the Shiflett home the next day. Two caseworkers were allowed to look at the boy but Shiflett again refused to let them take the child. They vowed to return with a court order. And so they did.

This time, heavily armed law enforcement officials arrived and without warning forcibly entered the house. Mom Tina Shiflett said they were wearing masks, broke down the door with a battering ram, and pointed a gun at their 20-year-old daughter's head. Both parents and one daughter were handcuffed.

"They didn't need to bash into my home and slam my kids to the floor," Mrs. Shiflett later said of the strong-arm tactics. "I think they get a kick out of this." Tom Shiflett added, saying: "I would have let them in. It was traumatic to my children, and it's quite unnecessary."

It didn't end with the violent home invasion. Eleven-year-old Jon was then forcibly taken from the home. His parents were told that if they tried to follow or otherwise find out where their son was being taken they would face criminal charges.

The raid on the family home and the kidnapping of the child at gunpoint occurred in the early evening.

"As natural parents therefore as legal custodians of the child , the parents had the right to refuse expensive medical treatment ,especially when they were already doing the right thing .Their right and liberties were trampled in a most despicable faction."Ann Shibler

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NEW CASTLE -Post Independent- The Garfield County All Hazards Response Team broke down Tom Shiflett's door Friday night and, following a court order, took his son for medical treatment. The doctor's recommendation: Take Tylenol and apply ice to the bruises. The boy was back home a few hours later.

"When American law allows federal and state agencies to come in a home and confiscate family, there is something wrong with our system"