- Body camera footage published by The Dallas Morning News showed police officers holding mentally-ill Tony Timpa in a controversial restraint position moments before his death.
- In the video, officers can be heard making jokes and laughing as Timpa lies unconscious after being pinned on the ground for more than 13 minutes.
- The officers involved were placed on administrative leave and were indicted by a grand jury following the incident, but the charges were dropped months later. All three officers have returned to active duty.
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A 32-year-old man calls 911 for help, saying he was off his medication to treat schizophrenia and depression and had taken drugs. Police arrive and pin him to the ground. Eventually, his muffled cries go silent, as the man takes his final breaths under restraint.
This is what newly-released body camera footage shows of the 2016 death of Tony Timpa.
Three years after the incident took place a judged ruled in favor of the The Dallas Morning News and NBC5 that the footage coult be released to the public. The News published the body camera footage on Tuesday showing the officers restraining Timpa until his death in August 2016.
Dallas police killed Tony Timpa, a mentally ill man who called THEM for help.
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) July 31, 2019
They restrain him until he dies, even as he yells, “you’re gonna kill me!”
Then, still on top of his dead body, they crack jokes about it.
Charges against the officers were dropped by @Dallas_DA. pic.twitter.com/Be2ngk8BQ4
In the footage it appears the officers use a hold known as the prone position or prone restraint. It is controversial, as "it may increase the risk for asphyxiation and death," The News reports.
Timpa repeats "you're gonna kill me" while in custody, while police reassure him that they're "going to get him some help."
Timpa was pinned to the ground by officers for more than 13 minutes, and he eventually stops making noise.
"It's just basic science: People can be essentially suffocated to death when they're lying on their stomachs in a prone position and there's weight on their backs compressing their chest and diaphragm," Seattle lawyer Erik Heipt told The News.
According to the custodial death report by Dallas police, it appeared that Timpa was intoxicated, but he did not threaten officers, resist arrest, or try to escape. The News reported that police claimed to "use only enough force necessary to block Timpa from rolling into a busy section" of the street.
Officers can be heard making jokes while Timpa was unconscious, acting as if waking him was like waking up a child for school. One officer even mimics the child, saying, "I don't want to go to school! Five more minutes, Mom!"
As Timpa is taken into an ambulance, officers begin to worry if they killed him. Emergency medical responders pronounced him dead moments later.
An autopsy report ruled the cause of death as a sudden cardiac death due to "the toxic effects of cocaine and the stress associated with physical restraint," The News reported.
The three officers involved — Kevin Mansell, Danny Vasquez and Dustin Dillard — were charged with misdemeanor deadly conduct by a grand jury in 2017 and were all placed on administrative leave.
Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot dropped the charges earlier in March of this year, and all three officers returned to active duty a month later.
A representative from the Dallas Police Department was not available for comment.
Following the release of the footage, the Dallas Police Department faced backlash on social media.
Bernice King, daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., also addressed the incident, after Creuzot held a community meeting in a center named after her father.
You’re meeting in a center named after my father. What about #TonyTimpa? His life? His personhood?
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 31, 2019
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