Deaths and Injuries in Police Custody

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Andrea

[B]Mitchell, a 24-year-old Portsmouth resident, was confined at the jail for 101 days last year after he allegedly stole $5 worth of snack food from a convenience store.

He died in August awaiting transfer to Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, where a judge had ordered him to be placed after finding Mitchell incompetent to stand trial. ( he was suffering from schizophrenia)

Mitchell weighed 190 pounds when he arrived at the jail on May 11 and weighed 144 pounds during the autopsy performed after he died Aug. 19, Taylor has said.

In an interview earlier this month, Taylor told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that video images outside Mitchell’s cell showed him receiving food through a slot in the heavy steel door.

The cell had concrete walls and only a small window in the door. The cameras did not show whether Mitchell actually ate his food, Taylor said.

“There was no indication that Mr. Mitchell was not eating,” Taylor said. “If the officers had any indication that he was not eating his food, he would be placed on what is determined to be suicide watch or hunger strike.”

***

The Times-Dispatch requested a copy of the video outside his cell through a Freedom of Information Act request, but the request was denied because the video does not exist.

$5 worth of snack food? He is mentally ill and incompetent to stand trial. He was in a concrete cell with steel doors and a small window to slide food through. For taking 5$ worth of snack food. A mentally ill person. What is wrong with people? How can human beings do this? These are the people who are supposed to protect and serve. What has gone wrong? And why aren't we all up in arms? It is too exhausting I think. It wears you down.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

$5 worth of snack food? He is mentally ill and incompetent to stand trial. He was in a concrete cell with steel doors and a small window to slide food through. For taking 5$ worth of snack food. A mentally ill person. What is wrong with people? How can human beings do this? These are the people who are supposed to protect and serve. What has gone wrong? And why aren't we all up in arms? It is too exhausting I think. It wears you down.

There is a group that are "up in arms". Campaign Zero is doing amazing things.

http://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision

[Andrea]

Woman, 27, Shot And Killed By Police In San Francisco

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/05/19/woman-27-shot-and-killed-by-police-in-san-francisco/

Authorities say a 27-year-old woman was shot and killed by San Francisco police Thursday morning in the Bayview district.

The woman was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where she died. Her name was not released.

The shooting happened at Industrial Street and Shafter Avenue.

No officers were injured.

Police Chief Greg Suhr says the woman was driving a stolen car and refused officer’s commands to stop the car. Officers approached her on foot and she drove away. She was then shot by police.

Other details were not immediately available.

The shooting happened in the same neighborhood where Mario Woods was killed when an officer shot him on Dec. 2. That shooting enraged groups of activists and community leaders, prompting calls to fire Suhr.

[Andrea]

Exclusive: Inmate Died in Prison, Was Buried Before His Bronx Family Was Notified

http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/criminal-justice/2016/05/19/ny1-exclusive--inmate-buried-upstate-without-bronx-family-being-notified.html

With tears rolling down his face, Lonnie Hamilton says he's living a nightmare. His namesake died in prison and was even buried without the family knowing it.

Hamilton: I want to know why my son is dead. I want to know why you buried him without asking me. I want to know why we weren't allowed to properly send him off.
Meminger: Where is your son's body?
Hamilton: I don't know.

Lonnie Hamilton, 22, was doing time at Marcy Correctional Facility, outside of Syracuse. He was convicted in the Bronx of robbery.

His family says they tried to reach him for several weeks and then decided to send him a letter. Looking for his prison's address on May 6, they went on the state's correctional website. They were shocked to see he was listed as deceased. He died on March 18.

"I'm thinking, 'This can't be right. It has to be some sort of typo or joke or whatever.' So we start reaching out to the facility" his father said. "Days later, they finally say he is deceased."

And he was already buried in a cemetery near the prison.

State Corrections tells NY1 it made several unsuccessful attempts to reach the inmate's next of kin, his father. They said the father's phone number didn't work.

Corrections say it also searched Hamilton's belongings for contacts but couldn't find any. They also reached out to police in Georgia, where Hamilton was originally from.

His father says he is easy to find because he's lived in the Bronx for many years and that's where his son was arrested.

"He was picked up, my doorstep. Knock on my door, 'Is your son here?' Taken out of my home," he said. "So they knew where I lived."

"They have nothing in writing at all to date that says their son is deceased. They have no autopsy report of how their son died. They don't know anything," said the Rev. Kevin McCall of the National Action Network.

The family says they were unofficially told their son committed suicide, but they find that hard to believe. They want his body exhumed and their own autopsy done. They are also calling for an independent investigation.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Woman, 27, Shot And Killed By Police In San Francisco

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2016/05/19/woman-27-shot-and-killed-by-police-in-san-francisco/

Woman killed by SF police sergeant IDd as Jessica Williams, 29

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Woman-killed-by-SF-police-sergeant-IDd-as-Jessica-7887427.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twit ter

The woman who was shot and killed by a San Francisco police sergeant Thursday morning after she allegedly attempted to flee officers in a suspected stolen car was identified Friday by the medical examiner as Jessica Williams, 29.

Williams, who the medical examiner said was from the Bay Area, died at San Francisco General Hospital.

Police said there was no immediate indication that the woman was armed or had been driving the car toward officers when she was shot.

Williams was shot one time, and despite the on-scene officers’ attempt to resuscitate her, she died Thursday at San Francisco General Hospital, the officials said.

Williams’ family has been notified of her death, the medical examiner said.

Thursday’s shooting was what many community members and city authorities called the last straw in excessive force from police, more specifically against people of color, igniting a chain of events that ended with Police Chief Greg Suhr’s forced resignation later in the day.

Mayor Ed Lee, who for weeks had brushed off calls from critics of Suhr to fire him, asked for the chief’s resignation during a lengthy meeting with him Thursday afternoon. Lee announced at a City Hall news conference about 5 p.m. Thursday that Suhr had tendered his resignation.

The officers involved in Thursday morning’s shooting, a Bayview station sergeant and another officer, have not been identified by police officials. They were working a special enforcement project that seeks to recover stolen vehicles.

The officers tried to apprehend Williams after spotting her in a parked, stolen car about 9:45 a.m. at Elmira Street near Interstate 280, Suhr told reporters Thursday at the scene. But a witness said she sped away, making it only 100 feet before crashing into a parked utility truck.

The white sedan Williams was driving became wedged beneath the truck, police said. Williams was trying to dislodge the vehicle, by shifting it forward and in reverse, and was not complying with police orders, Suhr said, when the sergeant fired one shot, striking her.

Police removed Wiliiams from the car and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation before paramedics arrived at the scene and took her to the hospital, Suhr said.

There was no immediate indication that she was armed, police at the scene said, but added that they planned to search the vehicle for weapons.

Police said the investigation into the shooting of Williams is still in its early stages.

[Andrea]

NYPD cop stripped of gun, shield for pointing gun and punching bystander filming him making arrest in Harlem (WARNING: Graphic language)

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/nypd-points-gun-punches-bystanders-filming-harlem-article-1.2644471?utm_content=buffer866ad&utm_medium=socia l&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsT w

An NYPD cop was stripped of his gun and shield Friday after video emerged showing him pointing his weapon at bystanders filming him — and then punching one of them in the face, cops said.

The plainclothes officer was nabbing a suspected illegal dirt bike rider at an apartment building at W. 134th St. and St. Nicholas Ave. in Harlem around 6:40 p.m. Thursday when he whipped out his handgun, aiming it at the onlookers, the video shows.

In another video, the same cop is seen cracking one of the amateur videographers with a right hook outside the building, and tackling him.

The 32nd Precinct officer, whose name was not released, has been placed on modified duty while the episode is investigated, cops said.

The 21-year-old man seen being cuffed in the video, Dayshawn Bettway, was suspected as one of two men on dirt bikes circling cops as they stopped a gray Hyundai sedan double-parked down the block minutes earlier, an NYPD spokesman said.

The car's driver and another man escaped in the confusion.

Police later learned the car had been reported stolen in Connecticut. Cops discovered marijuana and 25 rounds of live ammunition inside.

A sergeant and an officer responded to the scene and spotted Bettway running into the building's lobby.

He was charged with assault after allegedly body-slamming an onlooker who opened his door to see what was going on. He was also charged with reckless endangerment and resisting arrest, police said.

The man seen being punched in the video, 19-year-old Jahnico Harvey, was given a desk appearance ticket on misdemeanor charges of menacing and disorderly conduct, a police spokesman said.

[Andrea]

Georgia Police Officers Caught on Camera Allegedly Fatally Tasering Georgia Man – and High-Fiving Afterward

http://www.people.com/article/parents-watch-as-police-allegedly-taser-son-to-death

When Mary Ann Sherman's son started acting erratically after smoking synthetic marijuana last November, she did what she thought was the right thing: She called police for help.

The Florida mom had no idea her 32-year-old son, Chase Sherman, would end up dead after allegedly being handcuffed and then Tasered multiple times by deputy sheriffs. The deadly incident, which played out in front of his parents' eyes, was caught on police body-camera and dashboard videos, which have been obtained by PEOPLE. The videos, taken on November 20, 2015, show Chase Sherman apparently resisting arrest as shouts of "Stop fighting!" can be heard in the background.

"He's got my Taser!" one sheriff can be heard yelling on the videos.

Even though Chase seemed to give up after a minute and a half, saying at one point, "I quit! I quit!" officers continued to Taser him for minutes. In total, he was Tasered 15 times, the family's attorney, L. Chris Stewart, tells PEOPLE.

Just before he seems to stop breathing, the footage shows him saying, "I'm dead."

Sherman's family watched in horror as police dragged his limp body out of the Jeep Patriot onto the highway. Someone on the footage is heard saying, "He ain't breathing. He ain't breathing!"

The video shows one of the deputy officers say, "Dude, I'm [expletive] fired, man." Someone else responds, "Nah, you're good."

After Chase's body is loaded into the ambulance, two sheriffs are seen high-fiving each other. Chase was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead later that day.

"It's really a tragedy because it's an example of how some officers deal with the mentally ill, which is what this is really about," Stewart, the family's attorney, says.

"They knew he was having a mental breakdown and didn't try to deescalate the situation," says Stewart, who successfully negotiated a $6.5 million settlement for the family of Walter Scott, the man fatally shot from behind in April 2015 by a North Charleston police officer after a daytime traffic stop.

"They actually got Chase cuffed easily, but pulling out Tasers escalated the whole thing," Stewart says.

The Shermans are asking the Coweta County District Attorney to take action. "Their whole world was destroyed," says Stewart. "Chase had never had a criminal record. He was engaged to be married. He helped with the family business. He was the nicest guy on the planet. This is a tragedy."

Coweta County District Attorney Peter Skandalakis tells PEOPLE, "This is a tragic case and it's one we are looking at rather closely. I have been a prosecutor more than 32 years and never encountered this type of situation, given all these facts."

Skandalakis adds, "The first decision we have to make is whether a crime was committed and if a crime was committed, then it would go to a grand jury. But at this point we are still looking at all the facts."

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which had completed its investigation in February and sent its findings to the DA, has also reopened the case, says Stewart.

Happy Family Trip Turns Tragic
On November 20, 2015, Kevin and Mary Ann Sherman were in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport, on a layover from their oldest son's wedding in the Dominican Republic to their home in Destin, Florida, when Chase began acting strangely, according to police records.

When he refused to board a plane from Atlanta to Florida, the Shermans decided to rent an SUV and drive five hours home.

Chase told his family and his fiancée, Patti Galloway, he was having a bad reaction to the synthetic drug, Spice. At that point, his mother said the family planned to take him to a doctor when they got home, according to police records. But when the family reached Palmetto, Georgia, Chase began acting erratically in the SUV.

Wanting to get Chase to a hospital, Mary Ann called 911, saying her son "is freaking out" and was "on some kind of drug," according to a statement released by Coweta County District Attorney Peter Skandalakis, who is reviewing the case.

"Chase's parents did what everybody is supposed to do," says Stewart. "You call 911 because it brings help, but in Chase's case, it brought death."

When Coweta County deputies and an EMT responded to the scene, they found Chase "physically combative and would not cooperate in getting out of the back seat," the DA's statement says. It adds, "Multiple attempts were made to subdue Sherman but the Tasers did not seem to have an effect."

The Coweta County Sheriff's Office did not immediately return calls for comment.

CBS News reports that both deputies are still employed with the department, according to Col. James Yarbrough with Coweta County Sheriff's Office. They're identified in incident reports as J.D. Sepanski and S.F. Smith.

In his statement, Skandalakis says, "the review of this case is not complete, the investigation is ongoing and a final decision has not been made concerning the outcome of this case."

Skandalakis's statement adds, "However, in recognition of the great public interest in this matter I have decided to make the body camera and dash board videos available to the media."

[Andrea]

Montgomery Co. officer accused of using excessive force on female student at school's prom

http://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-news/144250107-story

A Montgomery County police officer is facing allegations of excessive force at a high school prom. FOX 5 has learned Officer Mauricio Veiga has been removed from his assignment as a school resource officer at Sherwood High School following the outcome of an investigation.

Montgomery County police are looking into the allegations and reviewing surveillance video from the prom held at a local hotel two weeks ago, which allegedly shows an altercation between the officer and a female senior student.

Teachers at the high school who were present at prom filed the complaint against Officer Veiga, a 12-year veteran with the department, claiming he placed a female student in a headlock, tackled her to the ground and then holding her arms behind her back as if he was going to arrest her following a verbal altercation between the teenager and a fellow student.

The father of the high schooler told FOX 5 that he has seen the video of his daughter being restrained by the officer and he agrees that excessive force was used.

He said the video was recorded by a camera in the lobby of the Bethesda Marriott where the prom was held. The victims father does not want to be identified, but says the officer was also wearing a body camera but for reasons unknown, the incident did not get recorded.

Teachers claim Veiga has used questionable judgment before. In one instance, a picture shows him with school faculty pointing a Taser-like weapon towards a teacher's head.

Officer Veiga has been charged with harassment in the past and was also arrested back in 2012 for DUI. Those charges were adjudicated.

Then in 2014, he was charged again with DUI – this time while driving his police cruiser. He was found guilty and ordered to supervised probation. Veiga was subsequently taken off patrol and reassigned as a school resource officer at Sherwood High School.

A few months afterwards, Officer Veiga spoke at a drug and alcohol awareness seminar at Sherwood.