later that month after an outcry from the family, showed officers approach Mario, alone in a park with bottles of alcohol nearby, after a neighbor called about someone being intoxicated. The officers roll Gonzalez over and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. He adored our son and was a good father. They broke my family for no reason.. The family is demanding that the officers involved James Fisher, Cameron Leahy and Eric McKinley be fired and charged. In an earlier interview, Wilkinson said that physical struggle was because Gonzalez resisted the officers, who she said never intended for the struggle to progress the way it did. Again, my heart goes out to Mr. Gonzalez and his family.". The city said Civilian Parking Enforcement employee Charlie Clemmens was also involved. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California hasn't followed: What should you do? The project will marry her graduate work in clinical psychology and more than 10 years of journalism experience. The methamphetamine detected in his blood combined with his enlarged and dilated heart could have together resulted in fatal cardiac arrhythmia, the report continued. One officer put a knee on his back but only as a "balance point," Wilkinson said. I agree with the sheriff-coroner that it is a homicide. The video shows that one officer put an elbow on his neck and a knee on his shoulder, while another appeared to put a knee on his back and leave it there for about four minutes as Gonzalez gasped for air, saying, "I didn't do nothing, OK? "They never wanted to take him to the ground,"Wilkinson said at the time. Since joining The Times in 2020, Seidman has served on the breaking news and utility desks, wheres she written about Indigenous communities, wildfires threatening giant trees and fishing the L.A. River. In their initial public statements, Alameda police described Gonzalezs death as a medical emergency. Grieving family members invoked George Floyd, the Minneapolis man whose murder by a former police officer set off a national reckoning over police violence against people of color. During the interaction with law enforcement agents, he was face-down on the ground (prone) with his hands handcuffed behind his back, and at times the officers were applying pressure to his torso and legs with at least some of the weight of their bodies. The report went through "multiple levels of scrutiny and peer-review including a committee and we absolutely stand by that work," Alameda County Sheriff public information officer Lt. Ray Kelly says of the coroner's report. Alameda Police "mishandled" the arrest of 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez last week and caused his death, according to the attorney representing the man's family. Alameda is 15 miles outside San Francisco. Heres what first half of March looks like. The law firm also announced an online fundraising campaign on behalf of Cortez and Gonzalezs son. His death was ruled a homicide but also linked to health and drug use, Oakland leaders are scrambling to tackle violence and attract police officers. Most Californians can put off filing taxes until Oct. 16 but should they? Then officers can be seen putting Gonzalezs hands behind his back and pinning him facedown. Heres the latest plan, Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area. Meth didnt kill Mario, the officers did., Earlier this month, the Alameda County district attorney announced. A week after Gonzalezs death, the city identified the officers placed on leave as James Fisher, Cameron Leahy and Eric McKinely. In this image taken from Alameda Police Department body camera video, Alameda Police Department officers pin 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez to the ground during an arrest, April 19, in Alameda, Calif. Gonzalez stopped breathing during the arrest and was pronounced dead at a hospital. Members of the Gonzalez family believe police used excessive force when they attempted to arrest him. Alameda Police "mishandled" the arrest of 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez last week and caused his death, according to the attorney representing the man's family. Gonzalez died April 19 after police pinned him to the ground for at least five minutes. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Gonzalez in the video acts dazed and struggles to answer officers questions. In this image taken from Alameda Police Department body-camera video, officers pin Mario Gonzalez to the ground during an arrest on April 19, 2021, in Alameda, Calif. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? L.A. wants to evict families living in luxury hotel since botched 2021 fireworks detonation Therefore the cause of death is the toxic effects of methamphetamine, with the physiologic stress of altercation and restraint, morbid obesity, and alcoholism contributing to the process of dying.. Crime and Public Safety | Crime and Public Safety | First published on April 29, 2021 / 8:35 AM. The officers roll Gonzalez over and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. 16-year-old student killed in violent altercation at Santa Rosa's Californias storms arent letting up. The Alameda Sheriffs Office and the Alameda County District Attorneys Office are investigating the case, and the city also brought in an outside firm. He also holds a AA degree in journalism from Contra Costa College (San Pablo). "There was never a point in time where any officer's knee was on Mr. Gonzalez's neck. The Alameda County Sheriffs Office said in May that it intended to have the autopsy reviewed by outside agencies after its completion. Attorneys for his family dispute the cause. To Alison Berry Wilkinson, the lawyer representing the three officers and civilian parking employee, the report seemed to confirm that her clients were justified in detaining and arresting Gonzalez. As with Floyd, officers are routinely trained not to restrain people the way they did Gonzalez, said multiple use-of-force experts who viewed the video at the AP's request. Lila Seidman is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times yearlong initiative exploring various facets of mental health. His family said officers unnecessarily escalated what should have been a minor, peaceful encounter with the unarmed man. Examiners also detected ethanol in Gonzalezs system and found signs of alcoholism and obesity, including an enlarged and dilated heart and an enlarged liver with severe fatty change. Gonzalez, 26, died after Alameda Police Department officers pinned him to the ground face-down and restrained him for several minutes on April 19, 2021. He wasnt hurting anyone and he was clearly confused. Sherwin argues that is "a pretty low level of methamphetamine" that's comparable to or even lower than concentrations of the drug often seen in 'recreational' use of the drug. And he needs to find his justice one way or another.. Body camera footage shows the police restraining Gonzalez for five minutes, at which point he went limp. An independent autopsy confirmed what Mario Gonzalezs family had maintained all along: The 26-year-old Latino father died last year because Alameda, California, police officers knelt on his back for several minutes until he stopped breathing not, as the Alameda County coroners report had implied, because of meth in his system. No officers were charged. All three officers are on administrative leave. He also had multiple rib fractures and a liver laceration, consistent with injuries people sometimes suffer when doctors attempt to resuscitate them through CPR. James Fisher, Cameron Leahy and Eric McKinley be fired and charged. Former Pleasanton cop found not guilty of murder in DUI crash He worried if he or his mother died who would take care of his brother Efrain, 23, who suffers from severe autism and is nonverbal. He kept looking butnever had any luck. Video Shows Police Kneeled On Mario Gonzalez's Back For 5 .. Mario Gonzalez Died Of 'Restraint Asphyxiation' By Police, New Autopsy Finds An independent autopsy confirmed what the Latino fathers family had declared: Police in At least one officer kneeled on his back for nearly five minutes until Gonzalez became unresponsive. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much The two autopsy reports do agree that the manner of Gonzalezs death was homicide, or death at the hands of another person, a legal classification that does not necessarily lead to a murder or manslaughter charge. , released Wednesday, said that Gonzalez died on April 19, 2021, from restraint asphyxiation, according to forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu. "Officers have been instructed to not keep handcuffed subjects prone (face-down) and to instead roll them onto their sides for going on 30 years," said Seth Stoughton, who teaches criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina. ", "It was the toxic level of drugs not the actions of the officers," Berry Wilkinson said in an interview. Meth didnt kill Mario, the officers did. "Mario was a noble and decent man who didn't deserve to have his life ended in this way.". He is a graduate of Bowie State University in Maryland with a BS degree in communications. An altercation occurred, an officer was seen pinning a man for at least four minutes, and soon Mario Gonzalez was dead. After learning his name, the officer adds, Mario, just please stop fighting us.. California man who died in custody was restrained on his stomach for 5 minutes and lost consciousness, police body camera shows. 12:22 PM EDT, Mon April 11, 2022. In April, police called the incident a scuffle followed by a. after an outcry from Gonzalezs family showed officers approaching Gonzalez, alone in a park with some bottles of alcohol, and Gonzalez calmly speaking with officers for nearly nine minutes. The autopsy by the Alameda County Coroner's Bureau rules Gonzalez's death a homicide but says the main cause was "toxic effects of methamphetamine.". He joined the Bay Area News Group in 2014. "We often see in these cases of mechanical asphyxia or restraint asphyxia the pathologist attributing the death to methamphetamine," Sherwin says, adding, "It's not uncommon for a forensic pathologist to not have a very strong handle on the toxicology or the epidemiology of mass intoxication.". Mario Gonzalez, a 26-year-old father and east Oakland resident, stopped breathing after an 19 April encounter with police at a park in the city of Alameda, in the San Separately, the Police Department is conducting an internal affairs probe into the altercation, and the district attorney is reviewing the case to determine whether to file criminal charges. IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California hasnt followed: What should you do? Alameda police approached Gonzalez in a small park in the 800 block of Oak Street near Park Street and Otis Drive after residents called 911, describing a man talking strangely and smashing a bottle on a tree stump. hide caption. "We don't even know the cause of death right now," he said. Gonzalezs family filed a legal claim against the city of Alameda last June, and their attorney told the news station KTVU they plan to file a federal lawsuit soon. Therefore, the report concludes, the cause of death is the toxic effects of methamphetamine, with the physiologic stress of altercation and restraint, morbid obesity, and alcoholism contributing to the process of dying., Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. That's a huge boost for the Dubs, Denver gang member gave 14-year-old permission to open fire on woman with AR-15 after fender-bender, DA alleges, In 4 years, Lori Lightfoot went from breakout political star to divisive mayor of a Chicago beset by pandemic and crime, Florida lawmakers to consider expansion of so-called dont say gay law, Drone crashes at Disneyland after hovering over visitors heads See video, Rapper Travis Scott wanted for assaulting Manhattan club sound engineer, destroying $12K in equipment, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. Nor was there a time when they were pressing down hard enough on his body to cause him not to breathe.". In an autopsy report released Friday, chief forensic pathologist Vivian Snyder categorized Gonzalezs death as a homicide, while citing other factors, including methamphetamine abuse, alcoholism and morbid obesity. The lawsuit cites a report released last week by the Alameda county coroners bureau that said the 19 April death of Mario Gonzalez was a homicide. David DeBolt spent more than a decade reporting on the East Bay, with a focus on Oakland City Hall and the Oakland Police Department, for the Bay Area News Group and The Oaklandside before transitioning to become an editor at the Bay Area News Group overseeing breaking news for The Mercury News and East Bay Times in August 2022. A previous Alameda County Sheriffs Office coroners autopsy differed on the cause of death, saying Gonzalez died of a heart attack caused by the stress of the encounter. Michael Haddad, an attorney representing Gonzalezs family, said the autopsy confirms what everyone can see with their own eyes in the video, and questioned why it took eight months for the report to be released. ", The union representing police officers did not respond to a request for comment. 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