When Marines took Fallujah in Operation Phantom Fury, one of the biggest heroes was Dominic Esquibel. The lance corporal earned the Navy Cross for exposing himself to machine gun fire three times while saving two fellow Marines and helping to end an ambush.
The Marine has a major war injury from 7 years after Fallujah, when Esquibel stepped on an IED in Afghanistan. It tore off his heel and part of his ankle. But Esquibel battled to get back on his feet.
The Marine was using his device when he visited the National Park on Dec. 22, 2012, Esquibel says he arrived at the gate in winter, so the gate employee told him he needed snow chains if he wanted to go all the way into the park. And if he wanted to just take a picture, he had to wait for the traffic to die down. A park employee (not named in court papers) asked him to wait at the entrance until traffic thinned out. Esquibel showed the employee a handicap park pass that allows him to enter for free, the lawsuit says.
So, he took a U-turn around the gate, and drove over to the handicapped spot. That's where he parked, put up his handicap placard, got out of his car and that's when his trip took a downward spiral.
Esquibel says he was roughed up by a ranger, who apparently didn't believe Esquibel was handicapped.
After entering, Esquibel parked in a handicap space so he could use the restroom. He placed his handicap placard on his rear-view mirror and began walking from his vehicle when the park employee at the entrance booth yelled at him: “You can’t park there.” When Esquibel said he was disabled, the park employee replied: “I can see that you’re not,” the lawsuit says.
Court records show that the park employee later admitted to trying to stop Esquibel because she wanted to save the parking space for a co-worker who was coming to replace her at the end of her shift.
The park employee called a park ranger, who arrived a short time later and began questioning Esquibel. The complaint says the ranger, identified in court papers only as T. Parker, demanded that Esquibel show him a handicapped driver’s license. Esquibel told the ranger he did not have or need one to drive his vehicle. He offered to show the ranger the paperwork for the handicap placard, but the ranger was unwilling to listen, the lawsuit says.
The ranger arrested Esquibel for failing to follow a lawful order, the lawsuit says. Esquibel says his war-related injuries, which included a surgically repaired right arm, were made worse by the ranger’s forceful arrest and from being handcuffed.
During the arrest, the lawsuit says, the ranger kicked Esquibel’s disabled right leg in an attempt to spread Esquibel’s legs. Esquibel’s wife started to cry, and the ranger reached down and pulled up Esquibel’s pant leg to see the exoskeleton. “I told you I am a combat-wounded, limb-salvaged Marine,” Esquibel told the ranger. “You are damaging my leg and foot.”
In a complaint to the federal government, Esquibel says park rangers questioned his disability and arrested him. He says one ranger handcuffed him and kicked his injured leg. Esquibel says he was jailed in Fresno and although charges were eventually dropped, his injuries got worse and the incident may do what the IED didn't.
"He wears an exoskeleton, which is a type of a sophisticated brace that pretty much holds his leg in check so he is able to walk," said Fresno attorney Butch Wagner, who represents Esquibel in his claim against the government.
"When the ranger kicked him, it aggravated his condition, his vascular condition and he's been having more trouble with that leg than he normally does," said Wagner.
He says Esquibel could lose the leg, but Marine doctors are trying to save it.
In a letter to Wagner, U.S. Department of the Interior officials said in August this year: “From our review of the circumstances surrounding the detention of Mr. Esquibel, it appears that the officer’s actions were reasonable.”
But Wagner said Friday at no time did Esquibel break the law or deserve such treatment. When Esquibel showed up in federal court in Fresno to address his citation issued by the Sequoia park ranger, the prosecutor dismissed the case on the spot, Wagner said.
“He was falsely arrested and falsely imprisoned,” Wagner said. “If they are doing it to a war hero, who knows who they are doing it to.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/dominic-esquibel-national-park-lawsuit-2633489563.amp.html
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2014/nov/09/ticker-marine-says-ranger-roughed-him/#
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/04/03/marine-vet-disabled-in-sangin-explosion-wins-250000-settlement-after-park-ranger-allegedly-used-excessive-force-over-a-handicapped-spot/
http://battlerattle.militarytimes.com/2014/06/10/wounded-marine-vet-claims-poor-treatment-at-national-park-could-cost-him-a-limb/
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/2528548/NPS-rangers-assault-injure-disabled-war-hero-in-SEKI
The Marine has a major war injury from 7 years after Fallujah, when Esquibel stepped on an IED in Afghanistan. It tore off his heel and part of his ankle. But Esquibel battled to get back on his feet.
The Marine was using his device when he visited the National Park on Dec. 22, 2012, Esquibel says he arrived at the gate in winter, so the gate employee told him he needed snow chains if he wanted to go all the way into the park. And if he wanted to just take a picture, he had to wait for the traffic to die down. A park employee (not named in court papers) asked him to wait at the entrance until traffic thinned out. Esquibel showed the employee a handicap park pass that allows him to enter for free, the lawsuit says.
So, he took a U-turn around the gate, and drove over to the handicapped spot. That's where he parked, put up his handicap placard, got out of his car and that's when his trip took a downward spiral.
Esquibel says he was roughed up by a ranger, who apparently didn't believe Esquibel was handicapped.
After entering, Esquibel parked in a handicap space so he could use the restroom. He placed his handicap placard on his rear-view mirror and began walking from his vehicle when the park employee at the entrance booth yelled at him: “You can’t park there.” When Esquibel said he was disabled, the park employee replied: “I can see that you’re not,” the lawsuit says.
Court records show that the park employee later admitted to trying to stop Esquibel because she wanted to save the parking space for a co-worker who was coming to replace her at the end of her shift.
The park employee called a park ranger, who arrived a short time later and began questioning Esquibel. The complaint says the ranger, identified in court papers only as T. Parker, demanded that Esquibel show him a handicapped driver’s license. Esquibel told the ranger he did not have or need one to drive his vehicle. He offered to show the ranger the paperwork for the handicap placard, but the ranger was unwilling to listen, the lawsuit says.
The ranger arrested Esquibel for failing to follow a lawful order, the lawsuit says. Esquibel says his war-related injuries, which included a surgically repaired right arm, were made worse by the ranger’s forceful arrest and from being handcuffed.
During the arrest, the lawsuit says, the ranger kicked Esquibel’s disabled right leg in an attempt to spread Esquibel’s legs. Esquibel’s wife started to cry, and the ranger reached down and pulled up Esquibel’s pant leg to see the exoskeleton. “I told you I am a combat-wounded, limb-salvaged Marine,” Esquibel told the ranger. “You are damaging my leg and foot.”
In a complaint to the federal government, Esquibel says park rangers questioned his disability and arrested him. He says one ranger handcuffed him and kicked his injured leg. Esquibel says he was jailed in Fresno and although charges were eventually dropped, his injuries got worse and the incident may do what the IED didn't.
"He wears an exoskeleton, which is a type of a sophisticated brace that pretty much holds his leg in check so he is able to walk," said Fresno attorney Butch Wagner, who represents Esquibel in his claim against the government.
"When the ranger kicked him, it aggravated his condition, his vascular condition and he's been having more trouble with that leg than he normally does," said Wagner.
He says Esquibel could lose the leg, but Marine doctors are trying to save it.
But Wagner said Friday at no time did Esquibel break the law or deserve such treatment. When Esquibel showed up in federal court in Fresno to address his citation issued by the Sequoia park ranger, the prosecutor dismissed the case on the spot, Wagner said.
“He was falsely arrested and falsely imprisoned,” Wagner said. “If they are doing it to a war hero, who knows who they are doing it to.”
https://taskandpurpose.com/dominic-esquibel-national-park-lawsuit-2633489563.amp.html
https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2014/nov/09/ticker-marine-says-ranger-roughed-him/#
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/04/03/marine-vet-disabled-in-sangin-explosion-wins-250000-settlement-after-park-ranger-allegedly-used-excessive-force-over-a-handicapped-spot/
http://battlerattle.militarytimes.com/2014/06/10/wounded-marine-vet-claims-poor-treatment-at-national-park-could-cost-him-a-limb/
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/2528548/NPS-rangers-assault-injure-disabled-war-hero-in-SEKI
SEMPER FI ..... Marine
ReplyDeleteYou served your time in a crud-hole chunk of this world and left your blood there saving your brothers..... Some SMALL BRAINED folks get all wrapped around themselves and forget to deal with folks the way they would want their 75 year old mom delt with... talked to... and treated with respect.
or ..... maybe their case of H U A is much too advanced for "over the counter" treatment...