Prosecutors announced their decision almost exactly three years since Linwood Lambert’s death.
Three officers involved in the death of Linwood Lambert – a Virginia man who died outside of a hospital after repeated tasings by police in 2013 – will not be charged, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Squad car camera footage captured police tasing Lambert.
Courtesey of Gwendolyn Smalls
The 46-year-old man died of a heart attack in police custody on May 4, 2013, after being taken to the hospital following his arrest at a Super 8 motel in Virginia by the police.
In June 2015 his family filed a $25 million federal lawsuit against Virginia's South Boston Police Department for wrongful death.
On Tuesday, almost three years to the day of Lambert's death, prosecutors said in their decision that police were "negligent" and "incompetent," but that prosecutors "do not believe, however, that there was evidence of criminal negligence."
"We waited three years to get back to the same place, where these officers are not going to be held accountable for their actions," Gwendolyn Smalls, Lambert's sister, told NBC after leaving a meeting with prosecutors Monday evening.
Courtesey of Gwendolyn Smalls
According to the suit, Lambert had been behaving erratically in his hotel room, causing staff and guests to call 911. When the police arrived, Lambert peacefully agreed to go to a nearby hospital, but instead ended up in a jail cell.
Around an hour later, Lambert was dropped off at an emergency room in full cardiac arrest, according to the suit, which cites medical records.
When arriving at the ER, Lambert broke a squad car window and ran toward the hospital doors.
In security and squad car camera footage provided to BuzzFeed News, Lambert can be seen running with his hands bound before three officers repeatedly used tasers on him, shackled his legs, and continued to tase him once he was on the ground.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1SLtg6y
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