TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Tucson has agreed to pay $2.9 million to the family of a man who died while in police custody earlier this year in a case that led to the resignation of three officers and sparked a push for police reform in the city, according to an attorney for the family.
Authorities said 27-year-old Carlos Adrian Ingram-Lopez died while in handcuffs on the floor of his grandmother’s garage.
She had called 911 to say he was running around naked and acting erratically.
If approved by a court, the settlement money would go to Ingram-Lopez’s 2-year-old daughter and his mother.
“The city did the right thing. They understood that there was never really any question that what the police did here was completely contrary to their training and procedures and that they were in the wrong,” attorney Ted Schmidt told the Arizona Daily Star.
The county medical examiner ruled the manner of Ingram-Lopez’s death was “undetermined” with the cause of death attributed to “sudden cardiac arrest in the setting of acute cocaine intoxication and physical restraint” with an enlarged heart as a “significant contributing condition.”
Three of the officers involved resigned after the April 21 incident, but Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said they would’ve been terminated following the investigation.
City Attorney Mike Rankin told the Star the city could not comment on the settlement prior to court approval, which is likely to happen early in 2021.
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