Seven California Highway Patrol officers and one nurse have been charged with involuntary manslaughter for the 2020 death of a man they restrained to take a blood sample — and as he yelled, “I can’t breathe!”
The charges came Wednesday after the Los Angeles County coroner said the man, Edward Bronstein, died due to “acute methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement.”
“The officers had a legal duty to Mr. Bronstein,” LA District Attorney George Gascón said at a news conference. “He was in their custody. We believe that they failed their duty and their failure was criminally negligent, causing his death.”
Bronstein, 38, had been pulled over and taken into custody when police suspected him of driving under the influence.
In an almost 18-minute video, released by a federal judge as part of a separate ongoing lawsuit, Bronstein can be heard repeatedly screaming, “I can’t breathe” as he was pinned on the ground.
The incident occurred just two months before George Floyd was tragically killed uttering the same words in Minneapolis.
Bronstein’s family says that he was terrified of needles and that’s why he was hesitant to let cops take the blood samples they wanted.
But Bronstein can also be heard in the video repeatedly shouting, “I’ll do it willingly!”
“It’s too late,” one officer replied. “Stop yelling!” another can be heard shouting.
Once he lost consciousness, it took officers over 11 minutes before they began administering CPR to the man. By then, it was too late, and he never regained consciousness.
Luis Carrillo, a lawyer representing Bronstein’s father, said in an email that his client “is glad that the CHP officers were charged with crimes because the CHP officers took a human life and left a family in grief and sadness.”
Bronstein’s death has prompted CHP to prohibit techniques that include a “substantial risk of positional asphyxia,” in addition to requiring more training for certain officers, the agency said.
In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law measures restricting officers from using certain face-down holds that have resulted in multiple accidental deaths.