Family of California Navy vet who died after police restraint gets $7.5M settlement
By Ryan General
The city of Antioch in California has agreed to pay $7.5 million to the family of a Filipino American veteran who died after being restrained by police during a mental health crisis in 2020.
Key points:
- Angelo Quinto, 30, died three days after being restrained by police inside his home in Antioch.
- His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
- Antioch denies wrongdoing but settled the lawsuit to avoid trial.
The details:
- Quinto was a Navy veteran with a history of mental health issues. On Dec. 23, 2020, his family called police because he was in mental distress.
- The responding officers restrained Quinto, who later died in the hospital. The family’s lawsuit alleged that officers used excessive force, including kneeling on Quinto’s neck for nearly five minutes.
- The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office investigated and declined to press charges against the officers. An autopsy determined that Quinto’s cause of death was “Excited Delirium Syndrome due to drug intoxication, psychiatric conditions, physical exertion and cardiac arrest.”
- At a press conference about the settlement, Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe said that working with the Quinto family had “a profound impact” on his own life.
- “He believed in all his family members. He believed in me more than I could ever believe in myself,” said Quinto’s sister, Isabella Quinto Collins. “He loved to be alive. He was so grateful for life, and I hope that if he is somewhere out there, that he is grateful for everything that we’ve tried to do in honor of him.”
The big picture:
- Quinto’s death has led to calls for reform in the Antioch Police Department. Meanwhile the city has implemented a number of changes, including banning of restraint tactics and face-down holds, equipping officers with body cameras and creating a mental health crisis response team.
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