Los Angeles: A woman under arrest put up a
violent struggle as officers were taking her into police custody and
during transportation to the police station was found unresponsive in
the back seat of the police car.
On July 22, 2012, around 2
a.m., Southeast Patrol Division Officers received a call to return to
the station for an investigation of two children, 3-years-old and
12-years-old, who were found abandoned at the station.
The
officer’s investigation led them to the children’s residence in the
9000 block of South Broadway, where they contacted the children’s
35-year-old mother Alesia Thomas. After interviewing Thomas and
completing their preliminary investigation, officers arrested Thomas for
Child Endangerment.
As the officers were taking Thomas into
custody she began actively resisting arrest, attempting to pull away
from the officers. One officer peformed a leg sweep and took Thomas to
the ground to gain control of her. Two other officers then handcuffed
Thomas behind her back. After the arrival of a police sergeant from
Southeast Division the officers walked Thomas to their police vehicle.
Thomas continued to struggle with the officers and another unit was
requested for assistance.
Thomas continued to resist the
officers attempting to place her in the rear seat of their police
vehicle. To further help in control Thomas’ violent actions the
officers placed a hobble restraint device on her ankles and then placed
her in a seated position in the back seat of the car.
Within
minutes of being placed in the police vehicle, the officers noticed
Thomas did not appear to be breathing and immediately called for Los
Angeles Fire Department Paramedics. They transported Thomas to a local
hospital, but she failed to respond to emergency medical treatment and
died a short time later.
LAPD’s Force Investigation Division (FID) Detectives responded and are investigating the in-custody death.
The investigation will ultimately be reviewed by the Chief of Police,
the Office of the Inspector General and Board of Police Commissioners
for compliance with the Department’s use-of-force policy which states
that an officer’s use-of-force actions must be objectively reasonable.
Additionally, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Justice System
Integrity Division will conduct a comprehensive review of the facts of
the in-custody death.
