A brand new federal lawsuit accuses Bogalusa police and Washington Parish deputies of violating the civil rights of a 28-year-old man who died late final yr in police custody and of mendacity to cowl it up.
Deputies responded to a single-vehicle collision about 11 a.m. on Dec. 19, 2021, and located Eric Nelson Sr., who had crashed his Chevy Malibu right into a ditch. Nelson had excellent warrants out of Bogalusa for drug crimes, in accordance with a preliminary Louisiana State Police report summarizing what occurred.
In response to a lawsuit filed Tuesday, an officer drove to Nelson’s Bogalusa dwelling so Nelson may change footwear earlier than heading to jail. The lawsuit says Nelson bumped into the woods, crossed a stream and dove “into undergrowth, the place he was tased by police and brought into custody,” the swimsuit states. State Police’s preliminary report stated Nelson complained of being drained and in need of breath on the experience to jail.
Video from the car parking zone of the Bogalusa police station, reviewed by The Instances-Picayune | The Advocate, exhibits two police SUVs pull up as a person in plain garments walks out of the constructing. Inside a half-minute, the person is on the SUV and leans in to the automobile a number of instances to tug Nelson’s legs towards the motive force’s facet rear door.
Finally, after a robust tug, the Black man tumbles limply out of the SUV and lands on his handcuffed arms on the White man’s ft. Nelson’s head drops to the concrete and he stays there limp earlier than the person from the constructing and a police officer drag him by his arms to the entryway. They depart him there, and an ambulance rolled up 5 minutes later.
“For 5 important minutes,” the officers “do nothing as Nelson lays dying on the pavement,” the lawsuit says. It alleges that police additionally gave EMS unhealthy data, claiming Nelson was strolling when he collapsed.
A brand new federal lawsuit accuses Bogalusa police and Washington Parish deputies of violating the civil rights of a 28-year-old man who died in police custody.
This video exhibits the car parking zone of the Bogalusa police station on the day of Eric Nelson Sr.’s dying and has been reviewed by The Instances-Picayune | The Advocate.
Learn extra in regards to the lawsuit on theadvocate.com.
The lawsuit additionally says that, after the tasing, Nelson ought to have been taken to a hospital first, in keeping with Bogalusa Police Division coverage.
Ashley Heiberger, a police practices professional and retired police captain in Pennsylvania who reviewed the car parking zone video on the request of the newspapers, stated officers appeared within the video to take some steps to offer Nelson “cheap care” — like repeatedly transferring him to maintain him upright after taking him out of the automobile.
In addition they appeared to verify his responsiveness through a sternum rub, a method used to evaluate an unconscious individual’s response to painful stimuli, stated Heiberger, who reviewed solely the car parking zone video and never different paperwork within the case.
Bogalusa Police Chief Kendall Bullen declined to touch upon the lawsuit, saying he hadn’t but seen it. He additionally declined to say if it was cops or sheriffs’ deputies who tased Nelson, saying he hadn’t seen the outcomes of a State Police investigation.
Northshore EMS data connected to the lawsuit present medical employees arrived to seek out Nelson in handcuffs on the bottom, unconscious and gasping for air.
The notes say that Bogalusa police advised paramedics the suspect “suffered no trauma upon arrest” and collapsed “whereas being walked from patrol automotive to jail.” Nelson died that night time at Our Woman of Angels hospital in Bogalusa.
The Bogalusa Police Division and metropolis jail on Thursday, October 6, 2022. (Photograph by Chris Granger | The Instances-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Kenyatte Spikes, the mom of Nelson’s minor son, filed the lawsuit on the kid’s behalf. It names the town of Bogalusa and several other officers, together with two Washington Parish deputies and Sheriff Randy “Nation” Seal, who stated Wednesday he wouldn’t touch upon a pending lawsuit.
It claims Nelson suffered mind swelling, face and neck accidents, and different trauma. It alleges the officers and deputies used extreme power or did not intervene, then tried to cowl it up. The swimsuit, filed by lawyer Joseph Lengthy, doesn’t specify the quantity of damages being sought.
Assistant District Legal professional Andrew Joyner, stated Wednesday the case stays below evaluation. State Police usually investigates deaths that happen throughout arrests by native regulation enforcement businesses in Louisiana, then forwards its discovering to native prosecutors to find out whether or not felony fees is perhaps warranted.
Except for an preliminary scene report which State Police launched in March in response to a data request by The Instances-Picayune | The Advocate, authorities have launched few particulars about Nelson’s dying.
The lawsuit notes that Nelson was in good well being on the time he died, with medical data exhibiting he had no previous medical or surgical historical past, and a preliminary drug display detected marijuana however no different medication.
Shortly after Nelson died, Bogalusa police say he was needed for resisting an officer, a number of drug counts and a visitors violation.
He had beforehand spent 5 years in jail after reaching a plea deal on a drug cost. He had been charged with possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and a firearm possession cost, however pleaded responsible to tried possession in 2013.