Officers could face charges in death after arrest
COLUMBUS, Ga. — A Georgia prosecutor says he will let a grand jury decide whether to charge two police officers after man died in a struggle with them in 2017.
District Attorney Mark Jones told the Ledger-Enquirer that he intends to present the death of Hector Arreola to grand jurors within weeks.
“I think we’ve got to,” he said. “Each side has their own version of the events of what happened, and that’s what the grand jury’s for.”
Jones told WTVMTV the Columbus police officers could be charged with aggravated assault and murder.
Arreola, 30, died following a physical struggle with officers during an arrest for disorderly conduct. In a Friday news conference meant to call attention to the case, Columbus NAACP branch President Wane Hailes likened Arreola’s death to that of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Hailes said Arreola said 16 times that he couldn’t breathe as an officer sat on him for more than two minutes while Arreola was handcuffed.
Columbus officers Brian Dudley and Mike Aguilar were placed on administrative leave during a Georgia Bureau of Investigation inquiry. WRBL-TV reported Friday they have returned to duty.
GBI’s initial autopsy report found that Arreola died from methamphetamine toxicity. But the agency amended the report last year to say Arreola died by homicide. The amendment changed the cause of death to “sudden cardiac death following a struggle with law enforcement including prone position restraint complicating acute methamphetamine toxicity.”
Jones said he wants the grand jury to hear the case during this term, within the next six weeks.
“The family is seeking justice, and they’re not going away,” he said. “They want to be heard on this, so that’s what I intend to do.”
The dead man’s father, Rodrigo Arreola, and sister, Patricia Ragan, also called Friday for Jones to act. The family has filed a federal lawsuit over the death.
“How many times, how many families will have to endure this pain and be completely ignored by the community they live in? It just has to stop,” Rodrigo Arreola said.