Police broke a surgically repaired wrist after ignoring a clear handcuffing warning

When police ignored a Michigan woman’s warnings about a recovering wrist injury, the handcuffing broke her wrist and caused serious pain, numbness, swelling, and additional surgery.

Michigan Legal Center was able to hold the police accountable on her behalf.

While she was being detained by police, our client told officers about a prior injury in her right wrist. She had needed surgery to fuse bones back together, and the surgery left the wrist fragile and less flexible than a normal wrist.

She asked not to be cuffed behind her back because doing so would be damaging and painful.

That warning was ignored by police.

When officers handcuffed her behind her back, she reported that her wrist was forcibly bent and that she heard it snap. She asked for medical attention, but she was taken to jail and held instead.

This was not simply a complaint of temporary soreness. Medical records later showed a fracture through the area where the wrist bones had previously been fused. The injury required a cast and follow-up orthopedic care. Over time, she reported numbness, tingling, sharp pain, swelling, and other continued problems with the wrist.

She also developed documented carpal tunnel symptoms, requiring injections and a right carpal tunnel release procedure. A later CT scan showed that the bones were still not connected in the fractured area.

She had to undergo another wrist surgery in which doctors inserted a plate and screws because the fracture had not properly healed.

Witness statements supported the client’s claim. One witness said they saw the client telling officers that her wrist was already injured and asking them to be careful. Another witness said the client requested to be cuffed in front because of a past injury and was told that was not protocol.

Michigan Legal Center: The Law Offices of Christopher Trainor and Associates pursued the case for the client. We were able to prove that the officers used excessive force on someone with a known wrist limitation and denied her appropriate medical attention after causing the injury.

The case turned on the idea that handcuffing may be routine, but officers still have to use reasonable force when they know about a serious medical limitation.

The case showed why collecting and preserving evidence early is important in police misconduct cases. The file included witness statements, medical records, jail records, booking photographs, Freedom of Information Act materials, and video notes from the jail. Those records helped connect the client’s complaints, visible wrist symptoms, and later medical findings to what happened during and after the arrest.

Handcuffing may be routine, but the force used during handcuffing still has to be reasonable based on the information officers had at the time.

With Michigan Legal Center's help, our client got the result that she deserved.