LF: Body Cam Shows Dallas Cops Laughing as they Kill Man: "You're Going to Kill Me!"

Title: Body Cam Shows Dallas Cops Laughing as they Kill Man: "You're Going to Kill Me!"
Source: News Maven
URL Source: https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/cops ... ill-me-29Pl8iZojEmYNCVEo8wgtA/
Published: Jul 31, 2019
Author: Ben Keller
Post Date: 2019-08-01 05:54:13 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 2340
Comments: 16

Body cam footage shows Texas cops pinning a man to the ground, as he cried for help more than 30 times, killing him.

New footage shows the final minutes of Tony Timpa's life after Dallas officers fatally pinned him to the ground by his neck, knees and shoulders.

"You're going to kill me! You're going to kill me! You're going to kill me!" Timpa screams before falling unconscious.

Officers respond by laughing and joking.

The officers who handcuffed and pinned him apparently assume he's asleep and never check to see if he was breathing or feel for his pulse to confirm their assumption.

They can be seen on body cam footage laughing and joking about waking 32-year-old Timpa up for school and making him waffles as precious minutes pass for a chance to possibly save his life.

Footage shows the first-responders waited at least four minutes to begin CPR after Timpa fell unconscious.

Instead of trying to save his life, Dallas police officers buried his nose in the grass while other officers say they hear him snoring.

Tony Timpa was actually drawing his last breath.

Officers pin him while his arms are cuffed behind his back for nearly 14 minutes.

They zip-tied his legs together.

By the time, he was loaded into an ambulance, Timpa was already dead, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Tony Timpa(Dallas Morning News)

The Dallas Police Department battled with the Dallas Morning News for three years after the publication fought for records showing Timpa's death.

On Monday, a federal judge ruled in favor of the publication to release the video records of his death.

"The public has a compelling interest in understanding what truly took place during a fatal exchange between a citizen and law enforcement," the judge said in his ruling.

It all started after Timpa dialed 911 for help.

Officers were dispatched to the parking lot of a Dallas porn store.

There, they found Timpa saying he was afraid and needed help.

He told the 911 operator he suffered from depression and schizophrenia and had not been taking his medication.

Initially, police refused to say how a mentally ill man who called police for help ended up dead, according to another report by the Dallas Morning News.

Now, the new video footage and records and parts of the federal lawsuit filed by Timpa's family contradict key claims the Dallas Police Department has made in defending the officers actions before his death.

Erik Heipt a Seattle attorney who specializes in in-custody death cases said officers should know the dangers of restraining someone in a prone position.

"It’s just basic science: People can be essentially suffocated to death when they're lying on their stomachs in a prone position and there’s weight on their backs compressing their chest and diaphragm," Heipt explained.

"As soon as [officers] have someone handcuffed, they’ve got to know to turn them on their sides and be on the lookout for any compromised breathing issues."

Police almost always claim a suspect in Timpa's position was 'resisting."

But for a person who is gasping for air while restrained, their instinct is often to panic then struggle.

"It's a lethal cycle that happens," Heipt said.

As officers first arrived on the scene, they promised Timpa they would get him help and that he would be OK.

"We're gonna get you some help, man," one of the officers assures him.

That attitude changes after 15 minutes of Timpa not breathing.

"I hope I didn't kill him," officer Dustin Dillard can be heard saying in the video.

As medical personnel arrives Dillard turns to someone before shutting off his body camera.

"Sorry. We tried," he says.

Dallas Police officers Dustin Dillard, Kevin Mansell and Danny Vasquez, the three officers involved in pinning Timpa to death, were indicted by a grand jury in 2017 on charges of deadly conduct.

The grand jury that indicted the officers heard two days of testimony.

However, in March, Dallas County attorney John Creuzot dismissed the charges.

Internal affairs records show Vasquez and Mansell were placed on paid leave in 2017.

Dillard was also placed on leave in March 2018.

All three officer returned to active duty in April after Creuzot dismissed the charges against them.

A medical examiner ruled Timpa's death a homicide.

Read the Timpa's autopsy report at the link.

Nail these cops to the wall. The facts about how people with breathing problems or compromised by drug use can die while in restraints is well-known.

When the courts make them pay dearly, the cops will follow the policy on proper restraint and the responsibility they have for anything that happens to the suspect once they are in restraints.

The autopsy showed cocaine in his system and that he died of a heart attack, not suffocation.

That in no way mitigates the requirement to place a restrained person on their side. His breathing was inhibited by his position on the ground. And he suffocated as a result.

People in restraints or suffering an epileptic seizure should always be placed on their side. Not laying flat. And especially not laying face down.

The guy who wrote autopsy report didn't have to spell it out because all medical and EMTs are trained to do that. And the police are responsible to know and practice it as well.

When you place someone in restraints, you inevitably have a greatly heightened responsibility for their physical welfare.

Had he died of asphyxiation you'd have a point. As it is, you're simply making irrelevant statements.