Substantial settlement ends police knee-on-neck suit over death of Navy veteran in crisis

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Angelo Quinto

Photos of Angelo Quinto are displayed during a news conference in Oakland, Calif., Sept. 7, 2022. Family members of the Navy veteran who died in 2020 after a police officer pressed a knee to his neck for nearly five minutes while he was in a mental health crisis have settled a federal lawsuit against the Northern California city of Antioch for $7.5 million, their attorneys said Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Janie Har, File)

Though California police officers who restrained a Navy veteran in crisis did not face charges for his asphyxiation death in 2020, several months after the murder of George Floyd, Angelo Quinto’s family has reached a $7.5 million dollar settlement to end their lawsuit.

Quinto’s mother Maria Cassandra Quinto-Collins and his sister Isabella Collins brought the federal case in the Northern District of California against the City of Antioch in 2021, alleging that their 30-year-old loved one was in a mental health crisis and died of asphyxiation due to the “prone restraint” method use by Antioch Police Officers on Dec. 23, 2020.

Cops responded to the Quinto residence that night after Angelo’s sister called 911 and reported that her brother was “becoming aggressive and threatening” and that he was restraining his mother, the suit said.

Quinto’s mother “corrected her daughter” on the 911 call to say she was the one restraining her son, the lawsuit added; the 911 callers said that Quinto was afraid of being left alone at night.

“Beginning at about 11:00 p.m., when either would attempt to leave Mr. QUINTO alone in a room, Mr. QUINTO would become fearful and agitated, and would begin grabbing onto either his sister or his mother,” the complaint said. “Mr. QUINTO was known to his family as being especially fearful of police, though he had no significant criminal history, and was especially fearful of being killed.”

When police arrived, the lawsuit said, Quinto’s fear of being killed turned into a reality.

“Mr. QUINTO pleaded, ‘Please don’t kill me!’ at least two times upon being put in a prone position. The Defendant Officers responded that they were not going to kill him. Defendant Officers handcuffed Mr. QUINTO behind his back,” the suit said. “One of the Defendant Officers then crossed Mr. QUINTO’s legs behind him and bent his legs upward toward his back. Mr. QUINTO cried out in pain. Another Defendant Officer placed his right leg on the back of Mr. QUINTO’s neck, and told Plaintiffs: ‘This is what we do to keep them calm.’”

Quinto was officially pronounced dead three days later, the family said, “as a consequence of anoxic encephalopathy […] caused by restraint asphyxiation.”

After the Contra County District Attorney’s Office investigated cops’ actions, prosecutors announced in 2022 that the officers would face no charges.

Prosecutors concluded that cops acted in a “lawful and objectively reasonable” way “under the circumstances” and that Quinto’s mother had actually been heard on the 911 call saying “I can’t breathe. Stop it.”

More Law&Crime coverage: Navy veteran wins $2.1 million settlement after police traffic stop beating in case that ended with $15 fine for license plate violation

“One officer kneeled and placed one knee on Quinto’s shoulder to handcuff him while the other held onto his legs,” prosecutors said. “This was the extent of force utilized by the two officers to restrain Quinto, and to prevent him from harming himself, family members, or the officers.”

Prosecutors further cited the autopsy that the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office performed, finding that Quinto died from “Excited Delirium Syndrome due to drug intoxication, psychiatric conditions, physical exertion, and cardiac arrest” — a conclusion that resembles convicted murderer Derek Chauvin’s defense after George Floyd’s May 2020 death in Minneapolis police custody.

An expert for Quinto’s family reached a different conclusion through an independent autopsy, the DA’s office said.

“The Quinto family commissioned an independent autopsy, and its findings note the cause of death was restraint asphyxiation. The private autopsy lists petechial hemorrhaging as the basis for such conclusion. An independent toxicology report also found the presence of Fentanyl in Quinto’s blood – in addition to Modafinil and Levetiracetam,” prosecutors said. “However, of critical importance to the investigation, an internal examination showed no bone fractures or damage to Quinto’s larynx and trachea.”

“While there are conflicting medical opinions as to the cause of death, the accounts of what transpired in the bedroom are consistent among all witnesses in that no police officer applied pressure to Quinto’s neck,” prosecutors added.

An attorney for Quinto’s family reportedly said, however, that the pathologist who conducted the autopsy for the state has since changed his opinion of Angelo’s death, acknowledging restraint asphyxia as the cause.

Ben Nisenbaum reportedly told CBS News that the “excited delirium” conclusion was “phony” and fell apart when the pathologist was questioned during a deposition.

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