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Family Awarded Settlement After Police Let Man Die In Custody
Allen Simpson was taken into police custody two years ago after trying to flee from officers. Police subdued him and placed him in a neck restraint which ended up killing him.
While in restraints, Simpson, 23, stopped breathing. Although police officers were all around him, surveillance tapes clearly show that nobody came to his aid.
A jury awarded his family a settlement of $800,000 in connection with the wrongful-death lawsuit. It is the largest award of its kind in the city's history.
Police say that Allen Simpson was running because he had a bag of marijuana in his possession. The prosecutors did not say that Simpson was not breaking the law.
The videotape used in the trial was taken from the police cruisers. It shows police struggling with Simpson on the night of December 28th, 2003.
Simpson was stopped on Earlcove Drive in Southeast Dallas and after fleeing, was finally caught and placed in a choke hold. The choke hold is a controversial method of subduing a suspect and the practice has been banned in the city.
The police took Simpson down and got the situation under control, but then he stopped breathing. The tape shows none of the officers coming to his aid. None of them performed CPR or tried to contact any medical staff.
During the trial, the videotape was shown which revealed an apathetic police staff. Officers were walking around or fidgeting with their flashlight instead of helping the dying man.
Paramedics did not arrive at the scene for 11 minutes, but by that time it was too late.
According to police, they did not feel safe performing CPR because they were not carrying protective masks. They felt it was a huge risk because Simpson had blood and spit coming from his mouth.
Once the tape surfaced, the city decided to settle the lawsuit.
The officers connected to the case are not being held liable for the man's death and they are still members of the police force.
As a result of the incident, all Dallas police vehicles now have protective masks for officers.