Tuscan, Arizona, police chief Chris Magnus offered to resign on Wednesday after the department released disturbing video footage of a Hispanic man being strangled to death while in police custody back in April.
According to The Daily Beast, 27-year-old Carlos Ingram-Lopez was strangled and died on April 21, 2020. His death came after authorities restrained him with his head on the ground for more than 12 minutes.
“In this video, we see a person who is clearly distressed. A person asking for water, asking for help, asking for his nana,” Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said Wednesday, before proposing sweeping police reforms. “Now we must center the conversation to police accountability and transparency. When officers do not perform as trained, they need to be held accountable.”
According to the report, the three officers involved have resigned.
According to Magnus, the officers involved in the incident did not use department protocol when handling Ingram-Lopez.
“I can’t say enough, this is a terrible tragedy,” Magnus said, adding that he is offering his resignation over the “horrible” incident. “The officers, in this case, did not live up to our department’s high standard.”
Magnus claims that the officers would have been terminated if they had not resigned.
According to the report, officers were called to Ingram-Lopez’s home after his grandmother became concerned with him.
“She reported he was drunk, yelling, and running around the house naked,” Magnus said, noting that the 27-year-old had been previously arrested for domestic violence and disorderly conduct.
In the bodycam footage, one can see when the officers arrive at the back of the home where they found Ingram-Lopez in the garage.
They immediately handcuffed him and placed him face down on the ground.
“Get on the fucking ground, get on the ground,” one officer says, while several other individuals can be heard screaming. His voice trembling, Ingram-Lopez is heard saying, “OK, please, please,” to the officers.
The officers hold Ingram-Lopez as he struggles to breathe.
“I just want some water,” he repeatedly says during the 25-minute video. “I can’t breathe,” he complains minutes later.
After several minutes, officers can be seen placing yellow blankets on top of Ingram-Lopez’s naked body. “You’re going to get shocked dude, you’re going to get zapped,” an officer says at one point.
According to The Beast: “Approximately 12 minutes into the incident, Magnus said officers discovered Ingram-Lopez was unresponsive. Concerned he had overdosed on drugs, the officers gave him Narcan and began CPR. When emergency medical personnel arrived at the scene, they continued to use life-saving measures—but it was too late, and the 27-year-old was pronounced dead on the scene.”
The Beast also added:
Romero—who said it was unacceptable that neither her office nor the public was notified of this death immediately after it happened—called for a “swift but a thorough investigation” into the incident. As a result, she is proposing sweeping charges, including establishing a community policing initiative. She added that she was not aware of Magnus’ decision to offer his resignation, saying he has been “an honest, a great police chief for the city of Tucson.”
“People are mad, people are disappointed and rightfully so,” she said.
Below, you can see the moment where Ingram-Lopez begs for his life as he runs out of breath. Warning, the video is graphic.
WARNING:
This video is hard to watch.
The man, Carlos Ingram-Lopez (27-yo), is distressed & begging for water. He also says “I can’t breathe” while restrained.
Police say autopsy revealed he had cocaine in his system & a heart condition but cause of death was not conclusive pic.twitter.com/UKzzZ9KleQ— Zach Crenshaw (@ZachCrenshaw) June 24, 2020
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