California man dies after police pin him to ground for five minutes

[Number 47]

California man dies after police pin him to ground for five minutes

Police in Alameda on Tuesday released body-cam footage showing officers pinning a man to the ground for more than five minutes during an arrest last week that ended in the man’s death.

Mario Gonzalez, 26, stopped breathing after an 19 April encounter with police at a park in the city of Alameda, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

An initial police statement said Gonzalez had a “medical emergency” during an altercation with police after officers tried to arrest him, but his family says he was killed by police who used excessive force.

“What I saw was different from what I was told,” Gerardo Gonzalez, Mario Gonzalez’s brother, told local station KTVU after watching the body camera footage. “The medical emergency [that police described] was because they were on his back while he was lying on the ground. It was brought by the officers on top of his head.”

Officers had approached Gonzalez in the park after receiving 911 calls that he appeared to be disoriented or drunk. The nearly hour-long video from two officers’ body cameras shows the officers first talking to Gonzalez, who seems dazed and struggles to answer questions.

When Gonzalez does not produce any identification, the officers are seen trying to force his hands behind his back to handcuff him and taking him to the ground when he resists.

The officers repeatedly ask him for his full name and birthdate. “We’re going to take care of you, OK, we’re going to take care of you,” one officer can be heard saying. “I think you just had too much to drink today, OK? That’s all,” the same officer says. Later, he adds, “Mario, just please stop fighting us.”

Gonzalez, who weighed about 250lbs (113kg), is seen on the video grunting and shouting as he lies face down on wood chips while the officers restrain him. One officer puts an elbow on his neck and a knee on his shoulder.

One officer appears to put a knee on Gonzalez’ back and leaves it there for about four minutes as Gonzalez gasps for air. “I didn’t do nothing, OK,” Gonzalez can be heard saying.

Gonzalez’s protests appear to weaken and after about five minutes he seems to lose consciousness.

Shortly before he stops breathing, one officer asks the other: “Think we can roll him on his side?”

The other answers, “I don’t want to lose what I got, man.”

The first officer asks, “We got no weight on his chest?” then repeats “No! No weight ... no weight.”

“He’s going unresponsive,” one officer says.

The video shows officers rolling Gonzalez over and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Gonzalez had a four-year-old son and also was the main caretaker of his 22-year-old brother Efrain, who has autism, his family said.

An autopsy is pending to determine the cause of his death but family members of Gonzalez on Tuesday told reporters that police escalated what should have been a minor, peaceful encounter with the unarmed man.

“The police killed my brother in the same manner they killed George Floyd,” Gerardo Gonzalez said.

Alameda “is committed to full transparency and accountability in the aftermath of Mr Gonzalez’s death,” the city said in a statement on its website.

Gonzlez’s death is under investigation by the Alameda county sheriff’s department, the county district attorney’s office and a former San Francisco city attorney hired by the city to lead an independent probe, the statement said.

In their initial statement last week, the department had said that Gonzalez suffered a medical emergency during his arrest, but did not mention the officers putting their weight on Gonzalez’ back.

“On Monday, April 19, patrol officers responded to two separate reports of a male who appeared to be under the influence and a suspect in a possible theft,” the statement started.

“Officers attempted to detain the man, and a physical altercation ensued. At that time, the man had a medical emergency. Officers immediately began lifesaving measures and requested the Alameda fire department to the scene. The Alameda fire department transported the male to a local area hospital, where he later died.”

The three officers involved in the arrest have been placed on paid leave during the investigation.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...?ocid=msedgntp

[Dave's Dreidel]

I don't understand what the fuck police officer's are doing in these instances.

[MF5150]

Scary that “medical emergency” is what the line would have been had there not been a witness recording of the George Floyd situation.


This appears to be another group of cops who suck at their job.


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[Dave's Dreidel]

From it, seems like there wasn't any "venom" towards the man, they kept telling him to calm down, that they just wanted to help him, etc.

But they still ended up killing the guy for basically a drunk in public.

[MF5150]

Based on solely the officer’s quotes from the article, it seems apparent that they weren’t malicious. At least they started resuscitations themselves as opposed to waiting for the paremedics to say, “Hey. Get off.”


But still. What cop in the World right now thinks, “Hey. Drunk guy...knee to his back?....” let’s do this?


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[MD 5150]

Cuff them and put in the squad car, not sure why this seems to be a problem.

[Dave's Dreidel]

Cuff them and put in the squad car, not sure why this seems to be a problem.

This.

We've managed to get drunks in drunk tanks for a hundred years without incident.

[fudd]

He was of Hispanic descent so we should be ok.


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[LAD-1972]

This shit has been going forever—not that is right by any means. Now that everything is suddenly “transparent,” it’ll be an everyday occurrence until the police are completely neutered. The media wins...we'll be one step closer to the only people with guns will be the criminals.

[CaboChris]

This shit has been going forever—not that is right by any means. Now that everything is suddenly “transparent,” it’ll be an everyday occurrence until the police are completely neutered. The media wins...we'll be one step closer to the only people with guns will be the criminals.

A few bad apples ruin it for everybody. Law enforcement is no exception. Floyd was the big bang that was coming for a long time.

Having said that, some practices are gonna have to change or else it will be an everyday occurrence. The ball is in police departments court. Human behavior will never change and there will never be a shortage of men and women lining up to be police officers. It will always be a status symbol profession regardless.

[Number 47]

People always say after George Floyd or so and so... how can cops even consider doing things like that to anyone... but I don't think we will ever be able to change the heat of the moment when shit gets ugly and reaction takes over.

Maybe there are training methods that can control it, but some sort of human instinct just seems to be more powerful depending on the situation and any training just goes out the window.

[jimmy812]

The heat of the moment cases are one thing--mistaking your taser for a pistol, thinking someone's cell phone is a gun, etc.--that needs to be addressed, but in the Floyd case and now this one not a shot was fired. We don't have all the details of this one, as far as I know, but Chauvin got what he deserved for slowly killing a man for the world to see.

This one is obviously not as bad as the Floyd case (at least these cops gave CPR to the guy). But it still seems like it was very preventable.

Not excusing the cops' behavior, but it seems apparent in many of these cases that resisting arrest plays a big role.

[MD 5150]

The heat of the moment cases are one thing--mistaking your taser for a pistol, thinking someone's cell phone is a gun, etc.--that needs to be addressed, but in the Floyd case and now this one not a shot was fired. We don't have all the details of this one, as far as I know, but Chauvin got what he deserved for slowly killing a man for the world to see.

This one is obviously not as bad as the Floyd case (at least these cops gave CPR to the guy). But it still seems like it was very preventable.

Not excusing the cops' behavior, but it seems apparent in many of these cases that resisting arrest plays a big role.

Hear far too many times those resisting arrest were scared and that caused them to run. I'm sure they were just going to Subway to get a sandwich, on their way to pick up college books or were just the most outstanding family man and father that ever walked this earth. I don't think any of those types of people will have cops chasing them just because.

[Dave's Dreidel]

Heat of the moment, I agree.

But when it is minutes with your knee on someone who is unresponsive, you would expect rational thought to kick and for them to say "fuck, let's get off of him and put him in the car".

[LAD-1972]

Not excusing the cops' behavior, but it seems apparent in many of these cases that resisting arrest plays a big role.

I agree. Noncompliance equals force. Force equals possible injury or worse. What could’ve been done differently? How do you rationalize with someone who is under the influence or simply doesn’t want to be arrested?