Family: Vet died after police knelt on neck
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Navy veteran who was going through an episode of paranoia died after a Northern California police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, his family said Tuesday.
The family of Angelo Quinto called police on Dec. 23 because the 30-year-old was suffering a mental health crisis and needed help. His family says a responding officer knelt on Quinto’s neck for nearly five minutes while another officer restrained his legs. Quinto lost consciousness and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died three days later.
“He said ‘Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me,’ as they were putting him on the ground. They handcuffed him and one officer put his knee on the back of his neck the whole time I was in the room,” said Quinto’s mother, Cassandra
Quinto-Collins.
Quinto-Collins said she had been hugging her son and he was calm when officers arrived at their home in Antioch, 45 miles east of San Francisco.
“I trusted the police because I thought they knew what they were doing but he was actually passive and visibly not dangerous or a threat so, it was absolutely unnecessary what they did to him,” she said.
A video recorded by Quinto-Collins shows her son listless, with a bloodied face and his hands cuffed behind his back. She said she began recording after seeing her son’s eyes were rolled up in his head.
The family filed a legal claim against the Antioch Police Department last week, which gives the department 45 days to respond. After that time has elapsed, the family will file a federal lawsuit, said John Burris, the Quintos’ attorney.