(DailyDig.com) – The relatives of a man from Nebraska who died while in police handcuffs will get $3.75 million from the city of Atlanta.
A man was vandalizing gas station pumps and automobiles when police were summoned to a convenience store in Atlanta. Dorado was resisting when he barricaded himself in a restroom, despite the police use of pepper spray and stun guns. When the door was opened, Dorado sprang out, kicking and swinging.
After police claimed Dorado tossed wine bottles at them, they used batons on him. Outside, Dorado was shackled and held down on the ground, face down. Lawyers claim that officers hogtied Dorado’s feet and kept him face down for fifteen minutes as one officer kneed his arm and another kneed his back.
Once officers saw Dorado was unconscious, they flipped him over and performed CPR. A few hours later, he died at the hospital. The Atlanta Police Department and the State Bureau of Investigation in Georgia both looked into it. The three policemen are still on desk duty.
After the medical examiner of Fulton County ruled that Dorado’s death during the August 21, 2022 arrest was a murder, the City Council authorized the settlement on October 2.
The medical examiner concluded that the person died from “prone restraint cardiac arrest.” Dorado’s arrest was complicated by the fact that he tested positive for methamphetamine, suffered from heart illness, and was struck in the head by batons from law enforcement. He said that Dorado’s mental condition was apparently affected during the fight due to his history of methamphetamine usage and schizophrenia.
An examination of the bodycam evidence in this case, according to Gabe Banks, an attorney for the Dorado family, shows that the actions of multiple police officers of the Atlanta Police Department led directly to Dorado’s untimely death.
It is unclear whether the police will face criminal charges from Fani Willis, District Attorney of Fulton County.
Over $8 million has been paid by the municipality of Atlanta this year to resolve lawsuits filed against the police force.
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