Criminal law, Society, Torts

“You Can Talk, So You Can Breathe”: LAPD Under Fire Over Death Of Prisoner After Asthma Attack

jorge-luis-azucena The Los Angeles Police Department is under fire for its treatment of a suspect in custody after Jorge Azucena died from an asthma attack. Azucena repeatedly told the officers that “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe” . . . I have asthma, I have asthma.” However, LAPD officers refused to help him with one sergeant telling him “You can breathe just fine. You can talk, so you can breathe.” He died after being left lying face down on his cell floor. Roughly a year has passed but there is no reported discipline in the case.

Azucena reportedly could not even walk by the time that he was brought to a South Los Angeles police station and was carried to his cell. The evidence in the case was derived from recordings from cameras on police cars that responded to the scene on September 6, 2013 near midnight. Azucena led police on a brief car chase after running a red light. He and two companions ditched their car and ran off into a park but Azucena was quickly found at a nearby apartment complex. When he surrendered, he is heard complaining that he could not breathe. He continues to plead that he could not breathe as he was left on the ground handcuffed. One officer noted that he was “walking wobbly” and seemed “fatigued.” Another thought he might be having a seizure. Azucena became increasing alarmed and began yelling “Help me, help me, help me. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. Help me, please.” A sergeant dismissed the pleas as just trying to incite the crowd. He was told “You can breathe just fine. You can talk, so you can breathe.”

He kept begging officers to help but the most that they would do is slightly lower a window in the cruiser. According to the Inspector General’s report, when he was unable to walk, an officer told him “that he needed to act like a man and walk.” Notably, following protocol, a supervisor insisted that he did ask Azucena if he was sick or injured and recorded his answer as “not responsive” on the form. That would seem a problem when someone is not responsive and unable to walk. However, Azucena was carried to a holding cell and placed face down on the concrete floor. Some 40 minutes later, paramedics arrived after officers could tell that he was not breathing. He was later declared dead.

keyframe100The inspector general’s report shows a shocking lack of response by various officers. Yet, no action has been reportedly taken in the case. That lack of accountability may explain how such violations occur in the LAPD in a case of this kind. I fail to see why it was such a difficult decision to take a prisoner to a hospital if he was sweating, having trouble walking, and claiming to have asthma. While there are medical conditions that are less urgent, a difficulty breathing is a medical condition warranting immediate action. Prisoners are routinely taken to hospitals for any number of reasons. This was not a tough call. It has been a year since Azucena died and it would seem that his family deserves from some real action and some real answers from the LAPD. Unfortunately, it sounds like a torts lawsuit may be the only way to force such answers through the litigation process.

Source: LA Times

131 thoughts on ““You Can Talk, So You Can Breathe”: LAPD Under Fire Over Death Of Prisoner After Asthma Attack”

  2. Right on Mespo. I will add that if it is intentional, wouldn’t it also be criminal?

  3. It’s all part of the macho male culture prevalent at some departments. Prisoners can certainly be difficult even vexing but to ignore a man on the ground takes some serious dehumanization. That’s either taught or tolerated and either way it’s unconstitutional.

  7. Bill McWilliams, interesting. I wonder if there isn’t some elitist plan to outlaw abortion and make birth control harder to get so that they can have a workforce that will be so desperate that they will be happy for any job, they wouldn’t dream of complaining about minimum wage. Also the elitists might want to make a college education so expensive that there will always be enough uneducated people to control, manipulate and work for them. Just a thought.

  8. this kind of police conduct is not new.

    For readers who are intellectually curious about WHY conduct like this happens, the following article gives a good overview of why the 1% see it as part of a long-term strategy to IMPROVE society.

    Sutton’s Theory of Elite Action
    Posted on August 21, 2014 by WashingtonsBlog

  11. The man was too weak to walk, they had to carry him in and they couldn’t see a problem? Cops as dumb as the guy who implanted horns.

  13. John Oliver – Well, if the policies required police to call for an ambulance whenever a suspect complained of breathing problems and they didn’t do that, it’s obviously a people problem

  14. What are you suggesting, Jack? That police should always doubt suspects’ claims of medical distress? That they should play doctor (practice medicine without a license) and do their own diagnosing of suspects’ symptoms (as was done here)?

    “He was arrested, handcuffed and placed in a patrol car. But somehow he escaped” reads one of the articles to which you linked. Somehow he escaped? “A drug addict who was supposed to be under arrest managed to escape from police when officers guarded an elderly patient by mistake… While he was being treated, police officers became confused and ended up watching another patient instead.” reads another. The police became confused?

    Perhaps police need better training in how to prevent suspects and prisoners from escaping from their custody.

  15. Obviously the policies and procedures aren’t sufficient or this would not have happened. When they analyze the process they will determine if this is a process or people failure.

  16. When in doubt call a paramedic. It isn’t difficult. On balance I have seen suspects who fake distress but this usually goes away after a minute or two when they try another tactic. But it isn’t worth the risk if they are ill.

    I have had a few guys who I knew were faking symptoms but we called an ambulance anyway. One in particular faked a grand-mal seizure. Most people in the throws of a seizure don’t look at you out of the corner of their eyes to see if you are watching. But, we called an ambulance anyway.

    After he arrived at hospital the staff wheeled him into the ED and a doctor came up and told him to open his eyes and stop pretending. A nurse arrived at his bedside and told him “If you don’t wake up we’re going to put a catheter in you.”

    Having never seen a catheter before, I assumed it was no big deal. That was until I saw how large it was. It made me shutter. Yet, my arrestee was resolute enough in his act he let it happen. I winced watching it go in.

    So, it was no skin off my nose to see his act play out so well for him. He got the treatment he deserved. Best not to risk it so call the paramedics, for better or worse.

  18. John Oliver – It’s not the department policies that were a problem. The LA Times article says officers ignored “department policies that require them to call for an ambulance whenever a suspect complains of breathing problems.”

  19. Police officers are Red Cross certified for CPR & other procedures, maybe even child delivery. Can’t they at least carry one canister of inhaler in the patrol car? But then we’re talking knuckleheads here. So, no.

  20. BFM reasonable is the optimal word. Those who carry guns and have such power over others MUST have better reasoning and coping skills.

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