ABC15 Investigator Melissa Blasius has built a reputation for asking tough questions and taking action on behalf of Arizona families.
PHOENIX — A federal judge will allow the family of a man who died in Phoenix police custody to move forward with their lawsuit claims of excessive force, failure to intervene, and wrongful death.
Phoenix officers arrested Lopez, 28, in August 2020. He was accused of minor crimes and was acting erratically both before and during his arrest. Despite known risks of positional asphyxia, officers kept Lopez in a face-down, prone restraint. The judge even noted Phoenix police policies that required officers to put restrained people on their sides or upright. Instead of following that policy, one officer kneeled on Lopez's back, and then several officers moved Lopez to the backseat of a police SUV, leaving him hogtied and face down. Just minutes later, Lopez becomes nonresponsive, and he's later pronounced dead at the hospital.
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