The family of an Arizona man who died in Tucson Police custody this week told the Arizona Republic they don’t want the police chief ousted, 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 first publicly addressed the April death of Carlos Ingram-Lopez, 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 called police shortly after 1 a.m. on April 21 because he was “drunk, yelling and running around the house naked.”
Tucson Police reportedly placed Ingram-Lopez face down on the ground while handcuffed and apparently suffering from cardiac arrest due to a cocaine overdose. Officers also apparently 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 firing had they not resigned, Magnus said.
Eduardo Coronado, Ingram-Lopez’s family attorney, told the Republic that they did not hear anything from the police department until Magnus publicly offered his resignation on Wednesday.
Coronado said they are not holding Magnus personally accountable because he was not the person who killed their family member, and as the head of the department at the time he is “probably the best person” to handle the situation.
The family is particularly upset that their grandmother called the police for help, and now her grandson is dead.
“Some family members are extremely outraged because they see the call to the nana’s house … as a call for Adrian’s aid and that was not rendered to him,” Coronado told the Republic. “That’s the way they see it, and that’s their motivating factor.”
Coronado, who knew Ingram-Lopez and his family before his death, described the man to the Republic as a “happy-go-lucky kid” who went to culinary school and enjoyed cooking for his daughter.