Police agree to pay $7.3 million to family of California man killed in 2016 by officer who placed him in 50-second neck hold that caused hemorrhages and cracked cartilage
A San Francisco Bay Area city has agreed to pay $7.3 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of a man who died after an officer placed him in a controversial neck hold that has since been banned in California in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.
Humberto Martinez Sr., 32, was put in a chokehold by a Pittsburg, Calif., police officer after he fled during a traffic stop in 2016. The city of Pittsburg agreed to pay his family $7.3 million to settle their lawsuit
The city of Pittsburg agreed to pay the family of Humberto Martinez Sr., 32, who died in 2016 from having the blood stream to his brain cut off with a carotid hold, according to a forensic pathologist who conducted his autopsy, the East Bay Times reported Tuesday.
Police had pulled Martinez for expired license plate tags on July 26, 2016 in an area they said they had targeted for investigating drug trafficking.
He fled on foot, entering a home through a partially open garage door. Pittsburg officers chased Martinez, then struggled to detain him in the kitchen.
The officers tried and failed to use a Taser on Martinez.
Police bodycam footage shows officers wrestling Martinez to the ground before punching and kicking him, breaking 16 of his ribs in the process.
Video also shows an officer, later identified as Ernesto Mejia, wrap his arm around Martinez's neck and keep it there for 50 seconds.
An autopsy determined that Martinez's death was caused by having the blood stream to his brain cut off with a carotid hold. His neck cartilage was found to be cracked and he suffered 'extensive' hemorrhages, the autopsy showed
The 'carotid chokehold' is the same banned maneuver that killed Eric Garner in New York City in July 2014.
Martinez cried out as he struggled to breathe. Another officer was simultaneously seen sitting on Martinez's torso before Martinez lost consciousness.
After Martinez falls unconscious Mejia maintained the hold for several seconds until another officer tells him to get off.
The officers performed CPR on Martinez and revived him until medics arrived, but he was pronounced dead at a local hospital later that day.
The city denied the chokehold was applied. Officers Jason Waite, Willie Glasper, Gabriel Palma, Jonathan Elmore and Patrick Berhan are also named as defendants in the lawsuit, according to Mercury News.
Mejia later told his colleagues that Martinez was trying to bite, punch, and headbutt him during the struggle.
Officers broke 16 of Martinez's ribs after he allegedly bit one.
The officer who applied the fatal chokehold was later identified as Ernesto Mejia, who was eventually cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by the county's district attorney
An autopsy found Mejia had cut off Martinez's breathing and fractured cartilage in his throat, causing 'extensive hemorrhages.'
The autopsy also found methamphetamine in Martinez's system that the pathologist testified may have played a role in his death.
Police never investigated whether Mejia violated department policy. The Contra Costa County District Attorney's office declined to prosecute any of the officers involved, according to the East Bay Times.
In the wake of Floyd's killing in May, police departments across the country quickly moved to ban the carotid hold.
The city of Pittsburg was among the first, passing a resolution in early June that banned city police from using the technique.
Bodycam footage showed what happened after officers chased Martinez into another person's house. They tried to use a Taser to subdue him before slamming him to the floor and kicking him. Mejia applied a carotid hold for 50 seconds and did not release until Martinez was unconscious for several seconds
Officers revived Martinez using CPR and revived him briefly, but he was pronounced dead at a local hospital later that day
In September, California banned arm-based grips including chokeholds that apply pressure to a person's windpipe, and carotid holds, which slow the flow of blood to the brain.
'These Pittsburg officers took Beto Martinez's life for a simple misdemeanor,' the family's attorney, Michael Haddad, said in a news release. 'They continued to beat and choke him even when he can be heard on their videos saying, "I can't breathe!"'
Attorney Michael Haddad represented Martinez's family in their lawsuit against the city of Pittsburg. 'These Pittsburg officers took Beto Martinez's life for a simple misdemeanor,' he wrote in a statement
'I was 14 when my Dad was killed. I was getting older and needed a father figure. The police should be the people you go to when you feel unsafe,' Martinez's son, Humbert Martinez Jr., wrote in a statement released by Haddad, according to the East Bay Times.
'It was unreal that they treated my dad like that.'
The multimillion dollar settlement is one of the largest ever paid to settle a police killing lawsuit in California.
It marks the third time in recent weeks that a Bay Area police department has agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement over a police killing.
Last month, Vallejo police agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle a suit by the family of a man killed by a police officer, and the city of Walnut Creek agreed to pay $4 million to settle a suit by the family of a man who was shot and killed by multiple officers after police were called to help him during a mental health crisis.