Police video: California man who died said ‘I can’t breathe’
“The Perez family is deeply troubled by the circumstances leading to Joseph’s death, especially in light of the police violence epidemic plaguing the country.”
— Neil Gehlawat, attorney
SACRAMENTO >> A man being restrained by Fresno police officers and sheriff’s deputies cried out “I can’t breathe!” in the moments before he died, body camera footage released Friday shows.
The video in the May 2017 death of 41-year-old Joseph Perez was made public under a federal court order as attorneys for his family pursue a lawsuit against members of the two police agencies and paramedics from American Ambulance.
“The Perez family is deeply troubled by the circumstances leading to Joseph’s death, especially in light of the police violence epidemic plaguing the country,” attorney Neil Gehlawat said in a statement.
The release comes as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is set to go on trial Monday in the death last year of George Floyd. Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck while Floyd was held face-down on the ground handcuffed and saying he couldn’t breathe.
Tony Botti, a spokesman for the Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner, said he couldn’t comment on the video, “due to it being an ongoing litigation matter.”
Recently retired Fresno Police Chief Andy Hall said in a separate video synopsis released by the department that he had wanted to release the video earlier but the family had objected.
“Despite Mr. Perez’s personal struggles, it saddens all of us when a life is lost,” Hall says in the video, expressing condolences to the family. Hall said the death was investigated by multiple agencies, all of which found no use of excessive force and that officers followed policies as they tried to help Perez.
The department said at the time that officers from both agencies responded to a call “saying there was a man acting strange, running and yelling on Palm Ave.” They called for an ambulance “due to his mental state” and out of concern that he might be under the influence.
He died on the way to the hospital. Hall said Perez had a toxic level of methamphetamine, though Gehlawat said that did not contribute to his death.