Mentally Ill Man Died From Police Chokehold, Not Heart Failure

A 31-year-old man with a history of mental illness died a week ago when San Diego police applied a chokehold restraint, the county medical examiner’s office ruled Tuesday, disputing earlier reports that he died of heart failure.

Edgar Paris, who had barricaded himself in the bathroom of an Old Town motel room after running from a nearby county psychiatric hospital, died “due to physical restraint during an acute psychotic episode” after four police officers subdued him, according to the medical examiner’s report.

“It amounts to the fact that the police choked him to death,” Oscar Paris, Edgar’s father, said Tuesday night. “I think it was murder.”

The medical examiner’s office ruled Paris’ death a homicide, and it will be investigated by homicide investigators before it is turned over to the district attorney’s office for possible criminal prosecution, police spokesman Bill Robinson said.

The investigation centers on Todd Wilkinson, 30, and Denise Clagett, 31, both eight-year veterans; Cindy Morrison, 28, a five-year veteran; and T. Yvonne Howard, 36, a reserve sergeant with six years on the force.

According to police accounts, Paris tried to check himself into the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital on Memorial Day but left before doctors could see him. He appeared at the Old Town Budget Inn nearby and barricaded himself in a vacant motel room. Police found Paris “sitting naked on the toilet, frothing at the mouth,” an official said at the time of the incident.

Police applied a “carotid sleeper” hold, which cuts circulation in the neck arteries, while keeping pressure on his back. After Paris passed out, the officers reported that they tried in vain to resuscitate him.

“The autopsy revealed petechiae (pinpoint hemorrhages) with minor hemorrhage in one neck muscle and no evidence of injury to the larynx or trachea (airway),” the medical examiner’s office said. “During the restraint process, he suffered a lack of oxygen to the brain.”

An earlier autopsy report indicated that Paris had died of heart failure, which medical officials were not available to explain Tuesday night.

Oscar Paris, a San Diego resident, said his son had been diagnosed as manic-depressive three years ago, after the death of his brother in an automobile accident. His problems had been controlled by medication, but his condition worsened three weeks ago after one of his close friends died.

“He wasn’t perfect. He had his faults, but he was very friendly and people loved him,” said Paris, 67, a retired architectural draftsman who came to the United States 32 year ago from Costa Rica.

Although he has discussed his case with an attorney, Paris said he has not decided whether to file a lawsuit against police or the city--although he is certain his son should be alive today.

“It shouldn’t have happened this way,” he said. “He was locked in a bathroom. He wasn’t offering resistance. He was plainly scared. It was blunt misconduct on the part of police.”

Describing himself as someone “who forgives everyone and does not want to hurt anyone,” Paris nevertheless wants something done about his son’s situation.

“I think justice should be done, but justice is a broad word,” he said. “And I think justice should take its own course to prevent this madness.”