Family claims Navy vet died after police knelt on his neck

SAN FRANCISCO >> 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 of San Francisco.