Family denounces police custody death of man in California
OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and DON THOMPSON, Associated Press
April 29, 2021
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1of5Jerry Gonzalez, right, the youngest brother of Mario Gonzalez, speaks about his brother s death in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Police in Alameda, California, are under fire over the death of a Hispanic man who was pinned to the ground face down for more than five minutes on the same day a jury in Minneapolis began deliberating in the George Floyd case.Josh Edelson/APShow MoreShow Less
2of5Jerry Gonzalez, the youngest brother of Mario Gonzalez, speaks about his brother s death in Oakland, Calif. on Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Police in Alameda, California, are under fire over the death of a Hispanic man who was pinned to the ground face down for more than five minutes on the same day a jury in Minneapolis began deliberating in the George Floyd case.Josh Edelson/APShow MoreShow Less
California man who died in custody was restrained on his stomach for 5 minutes and lost consciousness, police body camera shows
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Experts on deadly Alameda struggle: Officers trained not to keep hand-cuffed people face down
By Olga R. Rodriguez and Don Thompson
Published
KTVU s Henry Lee reports.
ALAMEDA, Calif. - The family of an unarmed 26-year-old Alameda man is struggling to understand how a minor confrontation with police led to his death on the same day a jury in Minneapolis began considering similar circumstances in the George Floyd case, while experts said that officers have long been trained not to handcuff people, especially when they are heavy or intoxicated, face-down on the ground.
Alameda police responded to a park on April 19 to check reports that Mario Gonzalez was acting strangely and appeared to be breaking security tags off of alcohol bottles that he had in two drugstore baskets.
Officers in Alameda death used lowest degree of force, attorney says
KTVU s Henry Lee reports.
ALAMEDA, Calif. - An attorney for three Alameda police officers on leave in the wake of the in-custody death of Mario Gonzalez said Wednesday that they used the lowest degree of force possible as he struggled with them.
These officers were here to help, said attorney Alison Berry Wilkinson.
The three officers were trying to detain Gonzalez, 26, at a small park near South Shore Center when Gonzalez, who weighs about 250 pounds, pulled the officers to the ground and struggled with them, Wilkinson said.
Gonzalez soon lost consciousness and died. The cause of his death is under investigation.
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The experts
Seth Stoughton, a University of South Carolina law professor and a former Florida police officer, said “the dangers of positional asphyxia” have been well known in policing and incorporated into training since the early 1990s.
The technique of pinning a suspect to the ground should especially be avoided when there are risk factors, such as obesity or drug or alcohol use, as was true in the Alameda case, Stoughton said.
He likened the situation to a boa constrictor killing its prey by depriving it of oxygen.
Stoughton, who has written about police training and force extensively, said it is acceptable for officers to place someone prone on the ground for a short period of time to put handcuffs on them.
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