A jury awarded a $5.9 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit to the family of a man who died in police custody.
The victim was a 38-year-old man living with his parents in the City of Pleasanton. He was suffering from a mental health crisis. His parents notified Paranoid personality disorder of him to officials as they were afraid that their son might encounter police officials and be killed in their custody, considering that some individuals died in such circumstances.
As per the court documents, PPD officers responded to a call where the victim was talking to himself at a grocery store. The victim had broken some bottles at the shop and was cooperative at the beginning, but suddenly stopped responding and just stared blankly at a distance. The officers responded to the situation by handcuffing, punching and piling on the victim.
Additional forces of officers entered the scenario and piled up on the victim. The victim started screaming and resisting the arrest as it can be heard on the video footage of the scenario. Eventually, the victim started to suffocate from the force of eight police officers. Suddenly, the victim stopped responding, and the officers realised he was no more breathing.
The jury showed grief over the victim's death and even showed concern over the unimaginable loss of the family, but the city's settlement agreement will surely give some relief to the family.
