Inclusion Daily Express -- Family Claims Son's Police Restraint Was Not Needed

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Family Claims Son's Police Restraint Was Not Needed
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 2, 2007

MIAMI, FLORIDA--The family of 18-year-old Kevin Colindres is suing the Miami Police Department over the "hogtie" restraint they claim officers used on the man, who has autism.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Colindres family filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court on December 18, six days after police placed Kevin facedown, handcuffed him, and tied his ankles to his wrists behind his back.

His attorney, Stuart Z. Grossman, said that at some point during the restraint, Kevin stopped breathing. As of December 20, Kevin was in a coma at Coral Gables Hospital.

"His crime is autism," Grossman said. "It's ridiculous."

Kevin's relatives said they called 911 on December 12 because he was agitated and they hoped the officers could help calm him down and take him to a crisis center, as they had done twice in the past. The family said that, even though Kevin was calm when they arrived, the officers insisted on restraining him, with at least two of them putting pressure on his back.

Police have countered that they were responding to a report that Kevin was assaulting family members, and that they saw what appeared to be injuries on some of the relatives in the home. They also insisted that he was not hogtied.

Miami Police Chief John Timoney said an internal investigation was underway.

Related:
"Boy in coma; cops' hogtie under probe" (Miami Herald)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16252892.htm
"Editorial: Plea for help shouldn't end in coma" (Miami Herald)
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16278492.htm

Copyright © 2007 Inonit Publishing
Please do not reprint, forward, or post without permission.

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