Angelo Quinto had been “suffering from anxiety, depression and paranoia in recent months,” his family’s lawyers said in a wrongful death lawsuit filed on February 18.
His sister Isabella Collins called the police at her home in Antioch, California, on December 23 because she feared he would hurt his mother, family lawyer John L. Burris said during a February 18 news conference.
Before the police arrived, Quinto’s mother held him against her chest with her hands folded behind his back for a few minutes, and “he had already started to calm down,” the claim states. When two officers from the Antioch Police Department arrived, Burris said they made no attempt to understand the situation and instead immediately 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, family lawyers say in the complaint.
Maria Quinto-Collins, Quinto’s mother, used her cell phone to record part of the incident.
“What happened?”, She says, breathlessly, as Quinto is seen without moving and lying face down. The police roll him over to carry his body, and his face is bloody. He is taken to a stretcher and paramedics administer chest compressions in Quinto, as his mother records on her phone, asking questions.
It was not clear in the video whether the officers were using body cameras.
“As far as we know, they were not,” said Burris last week.
In the nearly two months since Quinto’s death, the police have not released a press release about the incident. The Antioch Police Department and the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Division did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
“These Antioch policemen had already handcuffed Angelo, but they did not stop attacking the young man and inexplicably started using the ‘George Floyd’ technique of putting a knee on the back and the side of his neck, ignoring the calls of Mr. Quinto de ‘ please don’t kill me, ‘”said Burris.
The cause of Quinto’s death is still pending, Contra Costa County sheriff’s office told CNN on Monday. His death is being investigated by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office.
Isabella Collins said she called the police in the hope that they would help ease the situation.
The clerk and the city attorney in Antioquia did not respond to requests for comment.