Woman Stunned By Officer's Taser Loses Fetus

CHULA VISTA -- 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.