Police fire beanbags at 81-year-old man

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Police said they shot an 81-year-old nursing home resident three times with bean bags and hit him with pepper spray when he became suicidal and brandished a small glass vase.

Willie D. Foster, who was in wheelchair and has a pacemaker, was holding the vase over his head and threatening the nursing home staff and police officers, a report of the incident said.

"It was the safest option for the patients and the man," said police spokesman Jack Gillen. "If this were my parent, I would be satisfied with the officers' actions."

Foster was in good condition at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, The Ledger of Lakeland reported. Hospital officials said Thursday they could not make any comment on Foster, because he was admitted under the Baker Act, which allows a person considered a danger to self or others to be held for up to 72 hours for psychological evaluation.

Foster's daughter, Felicia Kennedy, said police and nursing-home officials acted improperly in the incident Tuesday night at Grace Healthcare.

"He's 81 with a pacemaker and has a little bit of dementia," said Kennedy.

She said her father was bruised by the bean bags. "I don't know if they even needed to call police. I wish they had called me first."

The department is reviewing the case to determine if the level of force used was justified, Gillen said.

The nursing home administrator, Joyce Plourde, declined comment Thursday.