Autistic man dies after clash with deputies (21 years
old)
STRUGGLE:
His mother says the force was excessive. Investigators say the
officers used only their hands.
10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, July 20, 2006
By NATHAN MAX and DOUGLAS QUAN
The Press-Enterprise
Relatives of a 21-year-old autistic
man who died after sheriff's deputies attempted to subdue him in the
bedroom of his Perris home are questioning the use of force by the
officers.
Raymond Lee Mitchell died Wednesday
after his mother, Wanda Mitchell, 47, called Riverside County
deputies to the house to assist her. He was pronounced dead at a
nearby hospital.
Sheriff's investigators said Thursday
that there was nothing unusual in the response by the deputies, but
Wanda Mitchell and her brother Willie Mitchell have accused the
deputies of using excessive force. Wanda Mitchell witnessed part of
the struggle, but Willie Mitchell was not at home at the time.
The deputies used no weapons when
they were attempting to subdue Mitchell, said Sgt. Joseph Borja of
the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Central Homicide Unit.
"They were basically trying to
physically restrain him with their hands," said Borja, who declined
to elaborate on how the deputies restrained Mitchell.
None of the deputies has been placed
on administrative leave, according to Borja.
"At this point, there isn't anything
suspicious about any of the activity," Borja said. "There is nothing
unusual about the way the call was handled."
An autopsy was scheduled to be
performed Thursday, however an official with the coroner's office
said Thursday night that she could not provide any information.
Call for Help
Wanda Mitchell said she called for
help Wednesday because her son was throwing a tantrum, and she told
him she would call police. She said that she had been taught that,
when dealing with her autistic son, she needed to follow through
whenever she made a threat. She said her son was prone to tantrums,
and deputies had been called to the house in May.
At that time, Willie Mitchell said,
the deputies spoke to Raymond, calmed him down and escorted him to
an ambulance. Raymond was taken to a hospital and returned the next
day.
When deputies arrived Wednesday,
Wanda Mitchell told them that Raymond was the autistic person in the
house. There also is a sticker in a window next to the front door
that informs visitors that a resident of the house has autism.
When the two deputies first
confronted Raymond in his bedroom, he said, "No police. I'm OK,"
slammed the door and ran into the closet, Wanda Mitchell said.
After Wanda escorted Raymond out of
the closet and onto his bed, she said she went to get a shirt for
him. When Raymond, who was 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 240
pounds, reached for the shirt, the two deputies jumped on him, she
said.
Borja declined to discuss Wanda
Mitchell's comments, citing the continuing investigation.
A struggle ensued between Raymond and
the deputies, and the deputies called for backup. A third deputy
showed up to help handcuff Raymond, and two other deputies arrived
later to provide medical assistance and perform CPR, Borja said.
Wanda Mitchell, who said she was
outside the bedroom during the struggle, said she saw six deputies
on top of her son at one point.
"These officers did a lot to escalate
the situation inside the house," Willie Mitchell said. "We called
for assistance, and we ended up with an overwhelming response for
what we believe is an agency that was not prepared to handle what
they walked into."
Encounters With Police
The number of autistic people who die
after law enforcement encounters is not tracked, but the anecdotal
evidence worries national autism experts.
"We hear about it more often than we
want to," said Lee Grossman, president and CEO of the Autism Society
of America.
Grossman said it's become a priority
for the organization to work with emergency personnel.
"We need to make sure police and
first responders know of the unique needs and characteristics of
people with autism so the situation they're encountering doesn't
become worse," he said. "It can escalate very quickly if they're not
trained."
Cpl. Dennis Gutierrez, spokesman for
the Sheriff's Department, said that jail and patrol deputies are
trained to respond to people with special needs, such as autism,
mental illnesses and hearing impairments.
About 20 years ago, about 1 in 2,500
people was diagnosed with autism. Today, it's closer to 1 in 166,
Grossman said.
Autism is a developmental disability
that affects an individual in the areas of social interaction and
communication, according to the Autism Society's Web site. As many
as 1.5 million Americans are thought to have autism.
Nationally, people with developmental
disabilities, such as autism, have seven times the number of run-ins
with law enforcement that other members of the public do, said
Dennis Debbaudt, who has been providing autism-related training to
law enforcement agencies across the country for 11 years.
Grossman and Debbaudt spoke generally
about autism.
Sometimes, emergency responders have
to adjust their tactics when dealing with an autistic person, said
Debbaudt, the author of "Autism, Advocates and Law Enforcement
Professionals: Recognizing and Reducing Risk Situations for People
With Autism Spectrum Disorders."
Officers are taught command presence,
such as putting hands on hips, to establish authority, Debbaudt
said. But when dealing with an autistic person, officers might
consider a softer approach: lowering their voices, taking a step
back and engaging that person in a chat about the things they like.
When an autistic person's adrenaline
starts going, it can be hard to regulate, Debbaudt said. If a
struggle ensues, officers can expect to encounter a lot of
resistance, he added.
Wanda Mitchell said the deputies
prevented her from calming her son, and they jumped on him for no
reason.
"I believe that I could have talked
to him, but the police put me out of the room," Wanda Mitchell said.
Online at:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_dead21.1af565b.html |
