Death of man in custody due to asphyxia, meth use

Pathologist cites multiple factors at inquest hearing

MARTINEZ >> In a case that mirrors an earlier incident that has garnered controversy and led to a federal suit, the death of a Bay Area man who passed out while being restrained by Antioch police was caused by asphyxia and cardiac arrest from the struggle with officers, as well as methamphetamine in his system, a pathologist testified Friday.

The pathologist — testifying at the inquest for 33-year-old Arturo Gomez-Calel — said there were multiple factors that contributed to the death: The struggle with police, the earlier foot chase, the “moderately high” level of methamphetamine in his system and being held to the ground face down. Officers held Gomez-Calel to the ground and used two sets of handcuffs to restrain him just before he went unconscious. He began having trouble breathing and died hours later without waking up.

“I think the reason Mr. Calel had low oxygen was he was restrained and flat on the ground and had trouble breathing,” Dr. Arnold Josselson testified at the inquest Friday.

Gomez-Calel's death on Feb. 24, 2021, mirrored an incident just three months earlier when four different officers struggled with and restrained Navy veteran Angelo Quinto, 30, at Quinto's Antioch home. Family members called police for help, believing Quinto was suffering a mental health crisis. A different pathologist blamed Quinto's death on “excited delirium” — a disputed medical concept that multiple physicians groups warn against citing — but found no illegal drugs in Quinto's system.

At Gomez-Calel's inquest, 13 jurors voted unanimously to rule that his manner of death was an accident. The decision carries no criminal nor civil liability but stands as the official finding in the coroner's report. One of the 13 said he was friends with a Contra Costa prosecutor but gave assurances it wouldn't affect his impartiality.

Inquest hearings must be held for all law enforcement-related deaths in Contra Costa, whether it's a police shooting or a natural-causes death in the jail. Typically, police officers directly involved in the event testify under oath with questions being administered by the presiding officer.

But at Gomez-Calel's hearing, the police narrative was given by Antioch police Det. Thomas Smith, who read from statements given by the three involved officers, identified through Smith's testimony as Darryl Saffold, Matthew Mulholland, and Brendan Lassas.

It is unclear why Smith stood in from the involved officers, who were sequestered and interviewed in the event's aftermath. Antioch interim Chief Steven Ford didn't immediately respond to questions about that unusual tactic and whether any of the officers are on leave in a large-scale criminal investigation by the FBI into several officers at Antioch and Pittsburg's police departments. That investigation, which remains ongoing, is said to involve steroid and illegal drug use by multiple officers, as well as other potential criminal conduct that investigators have yet to reveal.

Smith testified that Gomez-Calal was picked up by a Lyft driver that night and began acting erratically during the ride. He asked to borrow the driver's phone, refused to give it back and then grabbed for the keys after the driver stopped and got out of the car. When officers arrived, Gomez-Calal ran into a busy street; police initially thought about letting him go rather than risk a foot chase through a dangerous road.

But then Gomez-Calal attempted to open the door of a car that stopped at a light, prompting the officers to chase and attempt to detain him. When they caught up, they struggled to detain Gomez-Calal. Saffold used a stun gun on him twice, but later told investigators he didn't believe it had worked.

“Three large-sized men were unable to get this man's hands behind his back and handcuff him because the level of resistance was so strong,” Smith testified.

Smith testified that none of the officers reported putting pressure on GomezCalal's head, neck or upper back.

During Josselson's testimony, he mentioned once that methamphetamine could have caused “excited delirium” and overexerted Gomez-Calel during the chase and struggle, but didn't list it in his diagnosis. It is a term that several physicians groups have criticized as a way to justify police use of force in cases where people die. The American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic handbook doesn't list it as a condition and the organization conducted a study last year that says it is mostly cited in cases where the decedent was physically restrained by police.

In Quinto's case, Dr. Ikechi Ogan found “excited delirium syndrome” brought on by the physical struggle with officers and the stimulant modafinil, which was found in Quinto's system, had caused the death. Quinto's family has sued the four officers involved and accused them of escalating the incident into a violent conflict.

Last year, in an apparent breach of protocol for police-involved deaths, the Contra Costa Sheriff's office found, without holding an inquest, that the death of a man who died after a struggle with Richmond officers was an accident caused by excited delirium.