Angelo Quinto has been ‘suffering from anxiety, depression and paranoia’ for the past few months, his family’s lawyers said in an unlawful death claim, filed on February 18.
His sister Isabella Collins called police to their home in Antioch, California on Dec. 23 because she feared he would hurt their mother, family lawyer John L. Burris said during a Feb. 18 press conference.
Before the police arrived, Quinto’s mother had been holding him by the chest for several minutes with her hands around his back, and ‘he has already started to calm down’, the claim reads. When two officers from the Antioch police station arrived there, Burris said they made no effort to understand the situation, but rather grabbed Quinto from his mother’s arms.
Quinto lost consciousness and was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead three days later.
Maria Quinto-Collins, Quinto’s mother, used her cell phone to record part of the incident.
“What happened ?,” she says exhaling as Quinto is seen not moving on his front. Officers roll him to carry his body out, and his face is bloody. He is transferred to a gurney and paramedics give Quinto chest compressions as his mother records on her phone and asks questions.
It was not clear from the video whether the officers were wearing body cameras.
“As far as we know, they were not,” Burris said last week.
In the nearly two months since Quinto’s death, police have not issued a press release on the incident. The Antioch police station and the Corona’s division of the counter-province did not respond to requests for comment.
“These Antioch police officers had already handcuffed Angelo, but did not stop their assault on the young man and inexplicably began using the ‘George Floyd’ technique to place a knee at the back and his his neck, Mr Quinto’s pleas of ‘please’ do not kill me, ” Burris said.
The cause of Quinto’s death is still pending, the Corona office of the sheriff in Contra Costa told CNN yesterday. His death is being investigated by the district attorney’s office in Contra Costa.
Isabella Collins said she called police in hopes they would help ease the situation.
The city clerk and law firm in Antioch did not respond to requests for comment.