Woman Stunned By Officer's Taser Loses Fetus
Officer Apparently Didn't Know Woman Was Pregnant
Posted: 9:32 a.m. PST December 19, 2001
CHULA VISTA, CA -- Chula Vista police investigating a stillbirth four days after an officer used a stun gun on a
pregnant woman said an autopsy failed to link the death to the electrical shock, a lieutenant said Wednesday.
A postmortem exam "gave no indication" that the 50,000-volt shock from the Taser weapon was a factor in the
death of the 6-month-old female fetus last weekend, police Lt. Don Hunter said.
"At this time, the cause of death is unknown," he said.
Police responding to a report of a family fight found Cyndi Grippi, 36, in an agitated state outside her home in the
700 block of Monterey Avenue in Chula Vista shortly after 11 a.m. last Tuesday, authorities said.
The officers later told detectives it was not immediately apparent that the woman was pregnant.
She was "running around frantically, screaming and seemed to be hysterical" as her brothers, Mark and Steve, and a
family friend looked on, the lieutenant said.
When she saw the officers, the woman tried to flee into the house, but was blocked at a garage entrance by Steve
Grippi. The brother and sister then began pushing at each other.
The officers sought to calm the woman to question her, but she ignored them and again tried to run inside, police
said.
At that point, one of the officers, a three-year member of the Chula Vista Police Department, pointed his stun gun at
her and repeated the command to halt.
"She turned, looked at the officer, said 'no' and ran toward the residence," Hunter said.
He then discharged the device, which sent its two small barbs carrying electric current into her back, causing her to
collapse.
"Just after (she) fell to the ground, someone shouted that she was pregnant," Hunter said. "When the officers verified
that she appeared to be pregnant, emergency medical support was requested."
The patrolmen had not realized the woman was pregnant until "after she was Tasered," he added.
Medics took her to Scripps Chula Vista Hospital, where she was treated and released, with a referral to another
medical center for monitoring of her condition.
There, Grippi's fetus was stillborn early Saturday morning, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's
Office.
A cause-of-death ruling is on hold pending further tests, a coroner's investigator said.
Police withheld the names of the officers involved.
"There's no criminal investigation of them planned," Hunter said.
The unidentified officer has not received any disciplinary action.

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Wednesday, December 19, 2001 sectionssections
CHULA VISTA, Calif. (AP) -- Authorities are investigating the death of a 6-month-old fetus whose mother was
shot by police with a Taser during a confrontation two days earlier.
The San Diego County medical examiner has not yet determined the cause of death, police Lt. Don Hunter said
Tuesday.
The woman was shot in the back with the stun gun and fell to the ground last week after she repeatedly refused an
officer's order to stop, Hunter said. The officer did not know at the time that the 36-year-old woman was pregnant,
he added.

Officers were called to the home after receiving a report of a man and woman fighting. After the woman fell,
someone at the house yelled that she was pregnant and authorities took her to a hospital.
Police said the officer did not receive any disciplinary action.