The family of an Arizona man who died in Tucson police custody this week he told the Republic of Arizona they don’t want the police chief to be expelled, but a civil action lawsuit “is not off the table.”
On Wednesday, Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus offered his resignation The day after the department publicly addressed the death in April of Carlos Ingram-López, a 27-year-old Hispanic man who died while in custody.
City manager Michael Ortega rejected the offer, according to the Republic.
According to Magnus, Ingram-Lopez’s grandmother He called the police shortly after 1 am on April 21 because he was “drunk, screaming and running naked around the house.”
Tucson police reportedly placed Ingram-Lopez facedown on the ground in handcuffs and apparently suffering cardiac arrest due to a cocaine overdose. Officers also allegedly placed a yellow blanket over Ingram-Lopez’s head and body while he was face down, completely covering him.
The incident violated department policy and would have resulted in the officers being fired if they had not resigned, Magnus said.
Eduardo Coronado, Ingram-Lopez’s family lawyer, told the Republic that they heard nothing from the police department until Magnus publicly offered his resignation on Wednesday.
Coronado said they do not personally hold Magnus accountable because he was not the person who killed his relative, and as the department head at the time he is “probably the best person” to handle the situation.
The family is particularly upset that her grandmother called the police for help, and now her grandson is dead.
“Some members of the family are extremely outraged because they see the call to the nanny’s house … as a call to help Adrian and that was not delivered to him,” Coronado told the Republic. “So they see it, and that is their motivating factor.”
Coronado, who knew Ingram-Lopez and his family before his death, described the man in the Republic as a “happy boy” who went to culinary school and enjoyed cooking for his daughter.
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