Editor's Note: This news story includes links to videos released by police that contain graphic and disturbing content.
A man who died in Tucson police custody appeared to have super-strength as he fled a hit-and-run and fought with several officers, police body cam video shows.
Damien Alvarado, 29, is one of two people to die this year while being restrained and in custody of Tucson police. He died in March, but police did not release details of the incident until Wednesday night.
In the video captured on police body cams, Alvarado started fighting immediately and was punched three times by the first officer on the scene, who along with a passer-by tried to subdue him. But the punches had βno apparent effect,β the Tucson Police Department said.
Officers then tried twice, unsuccessfully, to stun the man into submission with a shock of electricity during a fierce struggle that lasted for several minutes.
It eventually took five officers to successfully subdue Alvarado, who died March 22 shortly after he was examined at the scene by paramedics who found him fit enough to be taken by police.
An autopsy by the Pima County Medical Examinerβs Office found the death was accidental. It showed contributing causes of death were sudden cardiac arrest due to acute methamphetamine intoxication, restraint, and dilated cardiomyopathy.
The release of the video and related police reports put the gritty realities of policing back in the public spotlight. The TPD released videos and reports on Alvaradoβs case and four other in-custody deaths over the past decade Wednesday night.
The cases are part of a review by Tucson police of in-custody deaths.
The review was prompted by fallout last month from the delayed public disclosure of the April 21 death of 27-year-old Carlos Ingram-Lopez, who died after going into cardiac arrest while handcuffed.
Mayor Regina Romero, who has been pushing for greater police accountability, declined comment on the latest TPD disclosures.
Alvaradoβs family tried unsuccessfully this week to stop Tucson police from releasing the video of his death, which is a public record. The family sought a court order banning the release, but a judge found no basis in law for keeping the material secret.
Alvaradoβs relatives are considering legal action against TPD, said the familyβs attorney, Paul Gattone.
Alvarado came to police attention when they say he fled from a vehicle crash near East Prince Road and North Campbell Avenue. A father and son who witnessed the wreck chased Alvarado, physically struggling to keep him from climbing a wall to get away until the first police officer arrived.
A lengthy fight involving several officers followed, with Alvarado complaining at various times that he could not breathe, even as he continued to scream and spit at officers.
'I can't breathe'
The first glimpse of Alvarado in the police video comes as an officer approaches a man pulling on Alvaradoβs legs as he tries to scale a wall near the crash scene.
The fight is intense immediately.
Alvarado pushed officers off him, and at one point pulled an officerβs magazine off his duty belt, police said. POlice said the officer's body camera malfunctioned during the fight. Alvarado also was struck with a Taser.
Several officers were on top of Alvarado as they struggled to put handcuffs on him, then a leg restraint to prevent him from kicking.
Alvarado yelled repeatedly that he couldnβt breathe and shouted, βDonβt touch me! Get away!β
βIf you can complain, you can breathe,β one officer tells Alvarado after heβs been restrained.
βHeβs been in the downward position for a while,β one officer can be heard saying about 10 minutes into the video, after the struggling by Alvarado has slowed. βWe need to get him on his side as soon as possible.β
Officers asked for a medical evaluation, and Alvarado was cleared to be taken to jail.
Medical staff had just left when officers noticed Alvarado was not responsive.
Medics returned, and Alvarado was taken to a hospital, where he died.
3 TPD officers resign
Alvaradoβs complaints about being unable to breathe are similar to those made by Ingram-Lopez in a video released by police last month.
Ingram-Lopez died after being restrained by police officers after his grandmother called 911 and reported he was behaving erratically and running around the house naked. The body camera footage showed officers approach the home and follow Ingram-Lopez into a dark, closed garage where he was eventually handcuffed and placed face down after a struggle.
He screamed and groaned while face down on the garage floor, asked for water repeatedly, in both Spanish and English, and said that he could not breathe.
An autopsy by the Pima County Medical Examinerβs Office showed that Ingram-Lopez had high amounts of cocaine in his system and a preexisting heart condition. He went into cardiac arrest while restrained, but the manner of his death was listed in the report as βundetermined.β
The incident involved three officers, all of whom resigned in June before an internal investigation was completed. Magnus said if the three officers hadnβt resigned, they would have been terminated for βmultiple policy violations.β
Officersβ actions βappropriateβ
An internal review of the Alvarado incident was completed Tuesday.
It determined that the use of force by the officers, including their restraint techniques, was appropriate and within policy, Tucson police said.
The review also determined that some comments made by the officers violated department policy. Those violations will be handled through the departmentβs disciplinary process.
After the outcry over the departmentβs withholding details of Ingram-Lopezβs death for two months, the City Council last month mandated immediate public notification of such incidents.
On Wednesday, the department said public notification will occur within 72 hours, unless there are legal issues that prevent doing so.
Two in-custody deaths in 2012
The first of two in-custody deaths in 2012 stemmed from a family fight March 17.
Police say an officer found Michael and Diane Carbone arguing in an apartment.
Michael Carbone pushed past the officer when Diane Carbone opened the door and he ran to a nearby convenience store, according to police reports.
Carbone was detained in the store and resisted arrest, trying to push and shove officers off of him. It took six officers to handcuff Carbone. After the struggle, which included the use of a Taser, Carbone was taken out of the store for medical treatment, according to a police report.
At one point Carbone, who is sitting on the sidewalk, starts to seemingly lose consciousness and fall over on his side. An officer has to hold his shoulders and his head as they wait for medics.
He was unconscious when police rolled him over to take off his cuffs for medics.
Medics gave Carbone CPR while he was lying on the sidewalk in front of the store. Carbone was pronounced dead at the hospital, police reports say. Medical records show he arrived at the hospital without a pulse.
An autopsy report was not included in the police reports.
The second in-custody death in 2012 occurred in September. A man called police Sept. 8 to report someone screaming outside near his home near North Highland Avenue and East Elm Street.
Police reports say Delbert Germany was found lying on his back with blood covering his head.
Germany, whose age was redacted from police reports, was banging his head against the ground and convulsing, the report says.
Officers handcuffed Germany and placed him in a βtotal appendage restraint procedureβ where a personβs arms and legs are belted and cuffed.
βAfter restraining him, the officers placed him on his side to prevent the subject from inflicting further injury,β the report says.
When Germany arrived at the hospital, he went into cardiac arrest. He died Sept.β15.
The autopsy report listed his death as an βaccident,β the police report says.
βAfter my review, it is clear that the officers did nothing inappropriate, and I see no evidence that would warrant consideration of charges,β wrote Rick Unklesbay, then chief trial counsel for the Pima County Attorneyβs Office, according to a police report.
Video is not available for the September 2012 case.
A call about a βman-with-a-gunβ
The 2010 in-custody death occurred Aug. 22, following a βman-with-a-gunβ call at a convenience store.
When officers arrived, the caller told them he heard gunshots.
Benjamin Sotelo, claiming to be a victim, flagged down an officer at the Speedway and Interstate 10 intersection and told him a suspect fled in a car. The officer went to find the car and asked other officers to go to the convenience store.
In a video from the convenience store, Sotelo is seen pacing, knocking things down, and at one point pulls out a gun and goes behind the counter where two women are working. Sotelo tries to grab one of the women by the neck, but eventually the women convince him to leave the store.
When a second officer got to the store, Sotelo dropped to the ground and yelled, βIβve been shot,β according to the police report.
Sotelo then grabbed the officerβs feet and duty belt, the report said. The officer tried to calm Sotelo and noticed a container of marijuana fell out of Soteloβs pocket, the report said.
The officer decided to detain him because his βerratic behavior escalated,β the report says.
Sotelo rolled around on the ground screaming as two officers and a bystander tried to control him and get him handcuffed.
One of the officers called Tucson Fire Department for medical attention. While in the ambulance, Sotelo became unresponsive twice and was pronounced dead that morning.
Soteloβs autopsy listed the effects of cocaine and alcohol intoxication and the struggle of physical restraint as causes of death.
