'Hog tie' wrongful death lawsuit will move forward

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Ramon Timothy Lopez died in the summer of 2020 while in police custody. (KNXV-TV/YouTube)

A judge this week rejected “qualified immunity” for Phoenix police officers sued for allegedly hogtying a man who died after being placed face down in the back of a police SUV on a searing summer day.

Ramon Timothy Lopez, 28, died in the summer of 2020 while in police custody, according to the civil rights lawsuit in federal court in Arizona. The case moved forward this week when U.S. District Court Judge Michael Liburdi ruled on the city of Phoenix’s request for summary judgment, granting in favor of Phoenix on claims for false arrest, failing to intervene, right to familial society and no finding of failure to train.

“A reasonable jury could conclude that the officer defendants were deliberately indifferent to a serious risk to Lopez’s safety while Mosley knelt against Lopez after he was RIPP restrained and when they decided to transport Lopez in the manner that they did,” wrote Liburdi, a Donald Trump appointee, in his order.

The lawsuit alleges false arrest and excessive force against seven Phoenix police officers. It alleges the city of Phoenix failed to train its officers regarding the proper use of force, including submission techniques that can cause positional asphyxia, particularly against individuals who are mentally disturbed and wrongful death.

A media representative for the city of Phoenix declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. One of the lawyers representing the city and the officers accused in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime.

But in their motion for summary judgment, the lawyers said the officers’ actions were reasonable and that Lopez initially ran away from police, threw a beverage at one of them, and “vigorously” resisted arrest with “superhuman strength” consistent with “the massive amount of methamphetamine” found in his blood. The officers had not been disciplined for any prior uses of force, the document said. Only one officer had been investigated for a use of force in a previous case. Each officer had received training on such policies and was certified by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, the motion said.

“Defendants are entitled to summary judgment on all of Plaintiffs’ claims,” John T. Masterson and Ashley E. Caballero-Daltrey wrote in their motion last July. “Their uses of force were objectively reasonable, but even if they were not, the officers are entitled to qualified immunity. Plaintiffs’ claims against the City of Phoenix fail because there is no evidence in the record of unconstitutional practices, customs, or policies.”

Court documents outline the Aug. 4, 2020, arrest recorded on police body cameras.

It started when Phoenix police responded to a 911 call about a man looking into cars, sticking his tongue out, and scratching or “fondling his private parts” over his clothes, court documents said. When police got to the scene, they saw the man — later identified as Lopez — empty and throw a wallet on the ground, the lawsuit said. Police claimed they thought he might have stolen the wallet, said he was acting erratic and believed he was under the influence of drugs, possibly methamphetamines, court documents said.

At one point, Lopez began leapfrogging from car to car, running between vehicles through traffic. He went into a liquor store and came out shortly after that with an open bottle of iced tea, which he threw on an officer as he ran by him outside, court documents said.

The officer chased Lopez, who ran into traffic. At one point, the officer reached out to grab him and fell, bringing Lopez to the ground in the middle of the street on a 101-degree day. The temperature of the asphalt was 145 degrees, the lawsuit said.

Lopez tensed up, swinging his arms and trying to kick as officers tried to handcuff him, court documents said.

At one point, as he was being handcuffed, Lopez said, “You guys are killing me,” while breathing heavily, court documents said.

Police secured him in a RIPP restraint — a device that binds the ankles and wrists of “combative or violent” subjects, the lawsuit said.

The officers drove him to a nearby Walgreens parking lot to get him off the street and into the shade, court documents said.

In the Walgreens parking lot, Lopez was breathing but unresponsive, documents said.

When officers pulled him out of the vehicle, they noted his eyes were rolled back in his head.

“I think he’s seizing,” one said, according to court documents.

When the Fire Department arrived minutes later, Lopez was unresponsive and had no pulse. He died at a hospital. A toxicology report said he had methamphetamine in his blood.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner concluded that Lopez’s cause of death was “[c]ardiac arrest in the setting of methamphetamine intoxication, dilated cardiomyopathy and his manner of death was undetermined.