Four California police officers have been placed on administrative leave after a man suspected of carjacking was killed by an officer.
David Glen Ward, 52, was pulled over last Wednesday days after he had reported that his vehicle was stolen at gunpoint. He never told the police that he found his car, so when a detective in Santa Rosa saw the vehicle, it was still listed as stolen. Several officers were then dispatched to apprehend the apparent carjacker.
Ward initially stopped when law enforcement officials tried pulling him over but then fled, creating a seven-minute chase where he reached speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. When they had him surrounded, Ward continued to disobey orders given to him by officers and even bit two deputies involved in apprehending him. Ultimately, one officer tased him, but nothing happened. A deputy then put him in a carotid restraint hold, a move meant to knock someone unconscious, according to a press release from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.
“During the struggle, Ward had asked the deputies and officers why they were harassing him and stated something to the effect of ‘I’m the victim’ but did not specify what he was the victim of,” Santa Rosa Police Lt. Dan Marincik told BuzzFeed News. He stopped breathing and was pronounced dead at Petaluma Valley Hospital.
A number of Ward’s family members said he was not in good health and with one member, his half-sister Catherine Aguilera, telling the Press Democrat, “It’s hard to imagine him having even the energy or force to aggressively avoid an arrest,”
Carotid restraints, which are similar to chokeholds, have been used in various police departments for years. Despite a ban lasting two decades, former New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo killed Eric Garner using that maneuver five years ago. Garner told the officers he couldn’t breathe, but he died nonetheless.
