Civil rights suits were filed this week on behalf of two men who died after being restrained by Cincinnati police or firefighters. The complaints say excessive force violated the men's Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable seizures.
Both suits seek funeral expenses and unspecified damages from the city and individuals allegedly involved in the deaths.
William Wilder died after a epileptic seizure on July 1, 1995, at a friend's Bond Hill home, and Darryll Price died after being arrested for dancing in a Corryville street and other erratic behavior on April 4, 1996.
In both cases, attorneys attributed death to "agitated delirium with restraint."
Without commenting on the Wilder - Price cases, Dr. Robert Pfalzgraf, chief deputy coroner for Hamilton County, said it can be "a tough thing to figure out" whether restraining an agitated or delirious person causes death.
He said police and firefighters encounter people "kind of out their mind" and restraint sometimes involves "piling on" to subdue them.
Being at the bottom of the heap makes it difficult for the disturbed person to breathe, Dr. Pfalzgraf said, and "they can suffocate . . . if they are restrained improperly."
This week's suits were the latest excessive-force suits filed in U.S. District Court by attorneys Kenneth Lawson and co-counsels Robert Newman and Lisa Meeks.
The trio also represents the family of
Lorenzo Collins, who died after Cincinnati and University of Cincinnati officers shot him in Corryville on Feb. 23. He died six days later.
Mr. Collins, 25, was a mentally disturbed theft suspect, brought by Springdale police to University Hospital for observation. He walked away and officers said he threatened them with a brick. The lawyers also filed a class action against the city, saying it has a "longstanding municipal policy of deliberate indifference" to excessive force by police officers.
In addition to the city, the suit by Mr. Wilder's sister, Deborah Wilder Johnson, names seven police officers and four firefighters. The complaint says the firefighters responded to a 911 call and called police assistance.
Together, they held Mr. Wilder face down while his hands were handcuffed behind his back and his legs were strapped, according to the complaint. After that, the suit continues, he was put face down on a stretcher where he "became suddenly quiet and had no vital signs."
He was pronounced dead at University Hospital.
Mark Yurick, the assistant solicitor handling the case, said firefighters found Mr. Wilder face down, shouting, with several friends sitting on him.
When firefighters and police restrained Mr. Wilder and put him on a stretcher so that his vital signs could be taken. Mr. Wilder quit breathing, and attempts to revive him failed, Mr. Yurick said. There was no evidence that restraint caused Mr. Wilder's heart to fail, he said.
The suit by Gladys Bolden, Mr. Price's mother, names only the city and six police officers, including Spec. Douglas Depodesta, who shot Mr. Collins.
The complaint says Mr. Price, 42, was incoherent, erratic, and dancing near his Corryville home in traffic on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and that officers restrained him in a manner similar to the way Mr. Wilder was restrained.
"We deny there was excessive force," said Frank Prouty, assistant solicitor handling the Price case.
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