By Paul Ingram
TUCSON, Ariz. (Reuters) – “Physical restraint” was a factor in the death of a Latino man who died in police custody in Tucson, Arizona, in April, a coroner’s report and internal police investigation have found.
The two reports were made public on Wednesday, the same day that the city’s police chief, Chris Magnus, announced that Carlos Ingram-Lopez had died in police custody on April 21. The announcement followed a report in the Tucson Sentinel newspaper on Ingram-Lopez’s death.
The Tucson Police Department (TPD) investigative report found that Ingram-Lopez, 27, died after police restrained him face down on his stomach with his hands handcuffed behind his back for about 12 minutes and put a ‘spit sock’ over his head.
During a Wednesday press briefing and in a written statement, Magnus said Ingram-Lopez died from sudden cardiac arrest with acute cocaine intoxication and an enlarged heart, citing the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner (PCOME)’s report.
Magnus omitted a further cause of death of “physical restraint,” listed in the PCOME report. A TPD spokesman said the department was waiting for a response from Magnus on why he did not mention “physical restraint” as a cause of death.
Magnus said the public should have been informed of the incident immediately and blamed the delay, in part, on “chaos” caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He said he was offering his resignation to the mayor and city council.
The TPD report said that an officer placed the spit sock – a mesh hood preventing transfer of diseases – over Ingram-Lopez’s head, contrary to training, which says doing so could cause a person lying face down to choke on vomit.
Three Tucson police officers, two white and one Black, have resigned over Ingram-Lopez’s death, Magnus said, adding the TPD report found they committed multiple policy violations.
The incident follows weeks of protests demanding U.S. police departments be overhauled, defunded or dismantled after the death of George Floyd in police custody as an officer knelt on his neck.
At least four of Tucson’s six city councillors have asked City Manager Michael Ortega not to accept Magnus’ resignation, according to local media reports. Ortega and councillors were not immediately available for further comment.
(Reporting by Paul Ingram in Tucscon, writing by Andrew Hay; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Rosalba O’Brien)
