Riverside County and the household of a person who died in custody in 2020 have reached a $7.5-million settlement, a lawyer for the household mentioned.
Christopher Zumwalt, a 39-year-old building employee who specialised in transforming kitchens, was detained in October 2020 by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Workplace.
On the time, “he was temporarily estranged from his girlfriend and was upset,” mentioned John Burton, a lawyer who represented Zumwalt’s three youngsters, “and he took methamphetamine, which was not typical of him.”
A neighbor known as the police after Zumwalt had an adversarial response to the drug. When arrested, “he was completely cooperative with the police,” Burton mentioned.
Video from the Sheriff’s Workplace shared with the Instances by Burton confirmed that Zumwalt was cooperative throughout his arrest and reserving at Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
Whereas being fingerprinted, Zumwalt was left to take a seat unrestrained on a bench and complied with officers’ orders, the video confirmed.
He was then positioned in a sobering cell, at first with one other inmate after which alone, for over 10 hours, throughout which “he became psychotic,” in response to Burton.
On the video, Zumwalt yelled, pounded on the door to the cell and stripped bare. At one level he reached into the bathroom, “thinking there was money in there,” Burton mentioned.
A nurse needed to do a medical analysis, however the unrestrained inmate was too agitated. Officers known as in an emergency response staff of a few dozen officers clad in helmets and gasoline masks.
The video reveals officers throwing canisters of tear gasoline and a flash-bang grenade into the cell as Zumwalt screams. When officers enter the cell, they are often seen wrestling Zumwalt to the ground within the smoke-filled room.
Officers tased Zumwalt in a wrestle that lasted a number of minutes earlier than subduing him and inserting him a restraint chair with a masking over his head and a towel over his bare midsection.
Riverside County and the household of a person who died in custody in 2020 have reached a $7.5-million settlement, a lawyer for the household mentioned. Christopher Zumwalt, a 39-year-old building employee who specialised in transforming kitchens, was detained in October 2020 by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Workplace.
(The Legislation Places of work of John Burton)
The restraints had been tied too tightly, stopping him from respiration freely, in response to Burton. Officers wheeled Zumwalt to a different cell, closed the door and left him there alone for practically 10 minutes earlier than getting into the room to search out him unresponsive, the video confirmed.
Paramedics had been capable of resuscitate Zumwalt, however he had suffered “too much cardiac down time, too much brain damage,” Burton mentioned. He was placed on life assist and died two days later.
Zumwalt’s household didn’t know something in regards to the incident till they discovered he was comatose at a hospital, in response to Burton. The county informed them he had had a medical emergency in jail.
Ultimately, the household obtained reviews from the county indicating that pressure had been used on Zumwalt. They employed attorneys who had been capable of get physique cam and jail movies from the Sheriff’s Workplace.
The movies “are so powerful and tell such a clear story that that’s what influenced the defense to settle,” Burton mentioned.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco mentioned the fault lay totally with Zumwalt.
“The facts of this case clearly show the actions of our deputies were appropriate and lawful,” Bianco mentioned. “The actions of Mr. Zumwalt while in a methamphetamine-induced psychosis caused his death. Fighting with deputies, required to do their job, increased his already taxed circulatory system.”
Nor does the county’s resolution to pay Zumwalt’s household $7.5 million symbolize a rebuke of his deputies, Bianco mentioned.
“The settlement in this case is irrelevant and solely a business decision between attorneys, insurance companies, and risk management of the county,” Bianco mentioned. “It in no way reflects on the facts of the case or points toward wrongdoing by deputies.”
Zumwalt’s dying was a part of a spike in in-custody jail deaths in Riverside County, Burton mentioned, which is why the county’s authorized woes proceed.
Riverside County and the household of a person who died in custody in 2020 have reached a $7.5-million settlement, a lawyer for the household mentioned. Christopher Zumwalt, a 39-year-old building employee who specialised in transforming kitchens, was detained in October 2020 by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Workplace.
(The Legislation Places of work of John Burton)
In February 2023, the state legal professional basic opened a civil rights investigation into the Riverside County Sheriff’s Workplace amid allegations of extreme pressure in opposition to detainees and inhumane jail situations.
2022 was the deadliest yr in Riverside County jails in additional than 20 years, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta mentioned at a information convention asserting the investigation.
“It is time for us to shine a light on the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office and its practices,” Bonta mentioned. His investigation is ongoing.
