A 33-year-old man died during an arrest after shouting ‘I can’t breathe’ while getting handcuffed and restrained by police officers.
According to the reports, Tacoma Police Department cops Christopher Burbank, Masyih Ford, Timothy Rankine, and Matthew Collins confronted Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old father-of-two, after spotting him harassing a female and banging on her car back on March 3.
As the police have claimed, Ellis also assaulted their vehicle and threw one of the officers to the ground after they approached him.
After restraining the man, who was allegedly combative, Ellis was heard saying ‘I can’t breathe’ moments before dying from respiratory arrest caused by the restraint.
While the incident occurred back in March, the findings that prove Ellis died of hypoxia during the arrest weren’t revealed until June 3, amid nationwide protests over George Floyd’s unjust death.
While it isn’t clear what methods the officers used to restrain the 33-year-old, detectives believe that they didn’t place him in a chokehold or knelt on his neck.
Following the findings, all four officers involved in the arrest have been identified and placed on administrative leave.
“The information is all being put together. We expect to present it to the prosecutor at the end of this week or early next week,” Pierce County Detective Troyer expressed.
Speaking of Ellis’s death, Troyer said they believe that the cops rolled the man to his side and didn’t choke him after he said he couldn’t breathe.
“The main reason why he was restrained was so he wouldn’t hurt himself or them. As soon as he said he couldn’t breathe, they requested medical aid,” the detective explained.
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Replaced!