After graduating from Coliseum College Preparatory in Oakland, Gonzalez had plannedto go toAlameda College. Thats all, the officer says. The officers roll Gonzalez over and perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but he was later pronounced dead at a hospital. "We often see in these cases of mechanical asphyxia or restraint asphyxia the pathologist attributing the death to methamphetamine," Sherwin says, adding, "It's not uncommon for a forensic pathologist to not have a very strong handle on the toxicology or the epidemiology of mass intoxication.". Gonzalez seemed intoxicated and disoriented and they were concerned he would fall, she said. "Mario was a noble and decent man who didn't deserve to have his life ended in this way.". Gonzalezs death is under investigation by the Alameda County Sheriffs Office and the county district attorneys office. The nearly hourlong video from two officers body cameras shows police talking to Gonzalez in a park after receiving 911 calls that he appeared to be disoriented or drunk. A week after Gonzalezs death, the city identified the officers placed on leave as James Fisher, Cameron Leahy and Eric McKinely. Michael Haddad, an attorney representing Gonzalez and his young son, who is also named Mario, said he didnt need an autopsy to deduce that Gonzalezs death was a homicide, or that the police restraint was a factor. That was their fatal mistake, experts said. An altercation occurred, an officer was seen pinning a man for at least four minutes, and soon Mario Gonzalez was dead. But he questioned the coroners finding that methamphetamine was the main cause of Gonzalezs death. He was highly intoxicated in a public place, in a manner where he was unable to care for himself, Berry Wilkinson said. In this image taken from Alameda Police Department body camera video, Alameda Police Department officers pin 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez to the ground during an arrest, April 19, 2021, in Alameda, Calif. Gonzalez stopped breathing during the arrest and was pronounced dead at a hospital. 2023 Cable News Network. After Oakland man dies in custody, Alameda looks at possible changes in policing IRS delays tax deadline for Bay Area, but California hasn't followed: What should you do? However, the independent autopsy, performed April 27, 2021 by renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu, says the primary cause of death was restraint asphyxiation. "The medical emergency that they're talking about was induced by three officers on his back. / CBS/AP. The emphasis on Gonzalezs drug history incensed an attorney representing the deceased mans son, who accused the coroner of trying to shield the police from scrutiny. On Tuesday, the six-month anniversary of Gonzalezs death by police, family members and other loved ones gathered with candles for a vigil at the Alameda park where A spokeswoman for the Alameda County DA's office declined to comment, citing its ongoing investigation of the case. Did you encounter any technical issues? Crime and Public Safety | With no high-pressure system off the California coast to block storms, wet weather coming across the Pacific Ocean can sail right into the state. The county coroners office had classified the death of Mario Gonzalez Arenales as a homicide and pointed to the toxic effects of methamphetamine as the leading cause.. Ray Kelly said. Email Lisa atlisa.fernandez@fox.comor call her at510-874-0139. All three remain on paid leave. Tehama County Sheriffs Office resuming daytime patrols Sunday SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The death of Mario Gonzalez in April as he was being restrained by Alameda police employees has been ruled a homicide by the Alameda All three officers are on administrative leave. State storms arent letting up. Gonzalez, who weighed about 250 pounds, by that point is lying facedown on some wood chips and can be heard shouting and grunting as the officers use body weight to control him. "Once they're controlling him, as we learned from the Floyd trial with all those medical experts, this position or compression is deadly," said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina and an expert on police use of force. , family members and other loved ones gathered with candles for a vigil at the Alameda park where Mario died at age 26. from officials in months, according to the familys attorn. Dear Abby: Why do they imply my husband is a freak? Crime and Public Safety | Gonzalez's mother, who lost another son two years ago, turned 45 the day after Mario died, his brother said. Once the officers had lawfully attempted to detain Mr. Gonzalez, he physically resisted their efforts the entire time until he ultimately became unresponsive, the district attorneys report says. And like so many others, he hadn't been able to find work since then. In this image taken from Alameda Police Department body camera video, Alameda Police Department officers pin 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez to the ground during an arrest, April 19, in Alameda, Calif. Gonzalez stopped breathing during the arrest and was pronounced dead at a hospital. The autopsy released eight months after the incident found that Mario Gonzalez died due to a heart attack during an April 19 struggle with police. Alameda police Officer Erick McKinley was among several officers who responded on April 19, 2021 in the citys Scout Park after a resident called police to claim Gonzalezs presence was scaring his wife. 2. In April, police in Alameda, California, kneeled on Mario Gonzalezs back for nearly five minutes before he died. The other refuses, saying he doesn't want to lose his grip. This, in our view, is an unintended, unexpected death from the use of proper training and accepted techniques in the law enforcement industry.. The release of the autopsy report is the latest development in the controversial death, which almost immediately drew protests and comparisons to the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Sherwin said she also had sent requests for a federal investigation, not only to US Attorney General Merrick Garland and his chief deputy, Pamela Karlan, but also to the US attorney and the FBI in the Bay Area. The incident is under investigation by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, the Alameda County district attorney's office, and Louise Renne, a former San Francisco city attorney, who was hired to conduct an independent investigation. Chief forensic pathologist, Vivian Snyder, cites other significant contributing factors to Gonzalez's death, including the physiologic stress of the restraint by police during the incident as well as alcoholism and morbid obesity. A Warner Bros. Nearly eight months after 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez died at the hands of police in Alameda, California, the county coroners office released a report ruling the Latino fathers death a homicide. Lisa Fernandez and Evan Sernoffsky are reporters forKTVU. He kept looking butnever had any luck. 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez died last Monday after police responded to a call about a disorderly and possibly intoxicated person. Michael Haddad, an attorney representing Gonzalezs family, said the autopsy confirms what everyone can see with their own eyes in the video, and questioned why it took eight months for the report to be released. Nor was there a time when they were pressing down hard enough on his body to cause him not to breathe.". "There was never a point in time where any officer's knee was on Mr. Gonzalez's neck. Gonzalez wont produce any identification, so the officers try to force his hands behind his back to handcuff him, but he does not let his arms go limp. David DeBolt spent more than a decade reporting on the East Bay, with a focus on Oakland City Hall and the Oakland Police Department, for the Bay Area News Group and The Oaklandside before transitioning to become an editor at the Bay Area News Group overseeing breaking news for The Mercury News and East Bay Times in August 2022. The methamphetamine detected in his blood combined with his enlarged and dilated heart could have together resulted in fatal cardiac arrhythmia, the report continued. The new autopsy results, released Wednesday, said that Gonzalez died on April 19, 2021, from restraint asphyxiation, according to forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu. s attorneys, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, countered the report from the Alameda County coroners office, last year, which had called the death a homicide but listed the principal cause as toxic effects of methamphetamine., The report included under other significant conditions the physiological stress of altercation and restraint, as well as obesity and alcoholism., On April 19, 2021, police in the Bay Area city, knelt on Marios back for nearly four minutes, until he died. Im concerned that the sheriff-coroner is trying to protect the Alameda police, Haddad said, arguing that methamphetamine was a false cause of death because the amount in Gonzalezs system 907 nanograms per milliliter of blood was far too low to cause someone to suddenly drop dead.. A person holds up a Justice 4 Mario sign while listening in to an April 27 news conference hosted by Mario Gonzalezs family and supporters outside the Alameda Police Department. Officers in Alameda, California, arrived April 19 to check out neighbors' reports that Mario Gonzalez was acting strangely in a park and appeared to be breaking the security tags off of alcohol bottles he had in two drugstore baskets. hide caption. Gonzalez, who complied with officers attempts to converse, appeared disoriented in a video later released. The last delay was on Tuesday. Caution: It is graphic. Alameda County prosecutors cited the coroners autopsy in their report earlier this month when they declined to find the officers criminally liable. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. ey. Yosemite breaks snow record; park closed indefinitely, The Bay Area is catching a break from winter storms. Nearly four minutes after he was cuffed, Gonzalez became unresponsive, the report says. The police should have known to use better tactics with Mario. Photo: Lisa Fernandez. He added that he's "committed to full transparency and accountability into the tragic death of Mr. Gonzalez, and as soon as more information is available, we will continue to share it. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. They killed him by restraining him in a prone position, with three officers weight on him, for over five minutes, attorney Julia Sherwin said in part. The state DOJ told HuffPost that it is their understanding that the case is being handled at the local level.. The death is under investigation by the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, the district attorney's office and a former San Francisco city attorney hired by Alameda to lead an independent probe. No officers were charged. Gonzalez can be seen gasping for air and he was pronounced dead after he was taken to the hospital. "Policeare not allowed to arrest people to keep from tripping," Sherwin said at the time. Sherwin is preparing a federal civil rights lawsuit. The officers approach to Mr Gonzalez detention and arrest and their use of force appeared reasonable under the circumstances, the report says. "We need justice because we lost someone who was indispensable to our family," Gonzalez's mother told CBS stationKPIX-TVlast week. That autopsy was commissioned by civil rights law firm Haddad and Sherwin on behalf of Gonzalezs son Mario Gonzalez-Cortez and family members in a civil suit against the city, the officers and the police departments former chief. On April 19, police in the Bay Area city of Alameda responded to a report of an intoxicated man and a possible theft. The death of Mario Gonzalez should be a wake-up call for the city of Alameda, said LaDoris Cordell, a retired judge and former independent police auditor for the city of San Jose. Los Angeles, Column: Supreme Court conservatives may want to block student loan forgiveness. Wife of popular Wild 94.9 radio host JV says new information suggests he will not be coming back, Bay Area federal judge orders extradition of woman suspected of killing MSU student in hit-and-run, San Jose: Home raided as part of explosives and narcotics investigation, Police body camera video released a week after his death, filed a legal claim against the city of Alameda, have the autopsy reviewed by outside agencies, Dear Abby: My wife said she doesn't like it, but it's part of my life. 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