A “severely autistic” teenager from Louisiana died after deputies handcuffed him, chained him and sat on him for more than nine minutes, his parents said in an open federal case this week.
The teenager, Eric Parsa, died on January 19, 2020, after an incident in the parking lot of the Westgate Shopping Center in Metairie, about 11 kilometers northwest of New Orleans.
The suit was opened on Thursday in the United States District Court in New Orleans against the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and seven of his deputies.
“We never thought that our 16-year-old son with special needs would die in front of our eyes and in the hands of the police,” Eric Parsa’s mother, Donna Lou, said via videoconference on Thursday, according to The Times -Picayune .
Donna Lou and Daren Parsa said they were at a laser tag center with their son when he started having a “collapse” in the parking lot at Westgate Mall, according to the lawsuit. The teenager, described as obese, non-verbal and severely autistic, began to slap himself on the head.
He then slapped his father and bit him, making the man bleed. The manager of the laser tag center asked the family if they needed police help and the family said yes, the suit says.
Jefferson parish deputy Chad Pitfield, who provided security at the mall, was the first to respond. The lawsuit states that by the time Pitfield arrived at the scene, the physical strife between Eric Parsa and his father had ended.
But after the policeman arrived, the teenager hit himself and his father again. Eric Parsa then slapped Pitfield when the policeman was sent away.
“Pitfield responded by taking EP to the ground,” says the suit. “Sheriff Pitfield then stated that EP bit his leg. Pitfield responded by hitting EP with a single blow … towards the head area.”
The lawsuit states that Pitfield knew that Eric Parsa had autism. At some point, the deputy asked for help from other officers.
During the discussion, Pitfield arrested the teenager with two pairs of handcuffs because of the teenager’s size. Pitfield is accused of sitting on Eric Parsa’s back for about seven minutes.
Six other deputies responded to the scene. Eventually, Pitfield got rid of the teenager and another deputy, Nick Vega, took over sitting on Eric Parsa’s back, according to the lawsuit.
Vega is also accused of lifting the teenager’s handcuffed hands above his head and pinning him with a choke or neck after Erica Parsa tried to get up.
The teenager was stuck in the ground for 9 minutes and 6 seconds, according to the action. During this period, “there were several clear and distinct opportunities, when the EP was assured, it was calm, it was not actively resisting”, he says, adding that deputies should have “adequately reduced the use of force”, but they did not .
He was left in that position on the floor until his body went limp. At that point, Eric Parsa was rolled over. “It was too late. EP was dying,” says the lawsuit.
The teenager’s mother told police officers that she was a doctor and offered to help perform CPR, but she was “told to stay behind,” according to the lawsuit. Eric Parsa was taken to the hospital by ambulance, where he was pronounced dead.
“JPSO delegates knew that EP was obese. They knew he was autistic and a ‘child with special needs’. They knew that he had been involved in recent physical efforts. They knew that EP was in a crisis situation and that the family needed help. They knew he was unarmed. However, they persisted in restricting EP in a dangerous and forced way without properly monitoring his condition, until they killed him “, says the process.
The parish coroner considered accidental death “as a result of an excited delusion” with his obesity and “prone position” among the contributing factors. The lawsuit says the death was not an accident.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement: “While the sheriff’s office understands that all deaths are cause for sadness and a time of mourning, this process is fraught with false allegations and malicious accusations against the first respondent deputies.”
Sheriff’s officials said deputies were trying to control a teenager’s violent outburst and prevent him from hurting himself and others.
“The case focuses on a severely autistic teenager diagnosed with numerous other mental conditions that have led him to have frequent bouts of violence,” the statement said. “The teenager beat and bit his own father, causing significant bloody injuries.”
Pitfield and Vega could not be reached immediately on Saturday.
The family is seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages.
The Associated Press contributed.