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Disturbing Video Shows Officers Mocking Dying Man

'You're gonna kill me!' shouted Dallas man
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 2, 2019 3:37 AM CDT
Updated Aug 2, 2019 6:42 AM CDT

Tony Timpa called a 911 dispatcher from the parking lot of a porn store in Dallas on Aug. 10, 2016, telling the dispatcher he was off his medication for schizophrenia and depression and he was afraid. Police officers restrained him and mocked him as he died, according to disturbing video obtained by the Dallas Morning News after a years-long legal battle. The video shows that the 32-year-old pleaded for help dozens of times and repeatedly shouted "You're gonna kill me!" as officers pinned him to the ground and zip-tied his legs. Timpa had already been handcuffed by a private security guard. He was on the ground with an officer's knee in his back for around 13 minutes, though he did not threaten police. After he became unresponsive, officers mocked the way he had squirmed around and made jokes about waking him up for school and making him a special breakfast, the Washington Post reports.

The body camera footage shows that officers continued to laugh as Timpa was eventually taken away on a stretcher, with one officer saying "I hope I didn't kill him." After he is taken to the ambulance, a paramedic says he isn't breathing. Medical examiners ruled the death a homicide, saying it was "sudden cardiac death due to the toxic effects of cocaine and physiologic stress associated with physical restraint," the AP reports. Mother Vicki Timpa tells the Morning News that her son struggled with drug and alcohol issues, but he was a successful executive and a loving father. His family, which accuses the officers of using excessive force, is suing the city of Dallas, the AP reports. A grand jury indicted the three officers involved on charges of misdemeanor deadly conduct in 2017, but they returned to active duty in April that year after prosecutors dismissed the charges. (More Texas stories.)

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