Death in arrest: public prosecutor's office relieves police officers - but there are inconsistencies
Created: 12/23/2022, 2:15 p.m
By: Stefan Aigner
A man was killed in a police operation between Regensburg and Wenzenbach in March (symbolic photo).
© Stefan Aigner
The officers deployed are not to blame for the death of a 31-year-old during a police operation near Regensburg.
Says the prosecutor.
The relatives examine a complaint.
Regensburg - The news comes as no surprise: In connection with a police operation in which a man died on March 20, the public prosecutor's office in Regensburg does not see any fault on the part of the officers deployed.
The agency announced this in a press release this week.
Regensburg public prosecutor: 31-year-old died of acute heart failure
It has been almost exactly nine months to the day since 31-year-old Daniel S. died during a police operation on Brandlbergerstrasse in Grünthal (Regensburg district) on the evening of March 20 under circumstances that were not fully clarified.
The public prosecutor's office has now completed the investigation into his death.
There was no initial suspicion of a criminal offense against the police officers involved.
The probable cause of death is "acute heart failure after physical exertion," it says.
This was the result of an expert report by the Erlangen forensic doctor Professor Peter Betz, who regularly acts as an expert for the court and public prosecutor's office in Regensburg.
Shortly after the death, the public prosecutor's office had largely ruled out any complicity in the death of Daniel S. on the part of the officers deployed.
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Death upon arrest: Police officers were misinformed
As reported on several occasions, Daniel S. was "put down" by a police patrol on Brandlbergerstraße shortly after 7 p.m. that evening.
The 31-year-old, who has suffered from schizophrenia since he was 16, is said to have hit a man in the head with a punch.
He had previously spoken to S. because he is said to have set fire to a wastepaper basket.
The man's partner then called the police and followed Daniel S. until the first patrol arrived.
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The officers called apparently assumed that S. had struck with an iron bar.
A statement that later turned out to be false.
The current press release from the public prosecutor's office does not explain where this came from and why the officials were deployed with this false information.
Death when arrested: the man had put up a massive fight
However, it is more or less admitted that fears that the man might be armed did influence the actions of the officers.
Literally it says:
"Around 7:18 p.m., two police officers from the Regensburg South Police Station who had hurried over found the man who had finally died, who had hidden his left hand in his left jacket pocket. They then instructed him to stop and show both hands. Based on the previous reports, the police officers assumed that the person who ultimately died could be carrying a pole. When the 31-year-old ignored the instructions, he was verbally threatened with direct coercion. When he showed no reaction to this either and still kept his left hand hidden in his left jacket pocket, the officers then used immediate coercion.”
Daniel S. "massively" resisted his arrest and hit one of the two officers in the face with his fist.
According to the public prosecutor's press release, it only took a minute from the arrival of the first patrol to the attempt to arrest S. and his resistance, including a punch.
After tying hands and feet: 31-year-old loses consciousness
As early as 7:19 p.m., the police officers made an “emergency call to call for further support”.
It goes on to say:
"In the end, however, the two police officers managed to bring the man who ultimately died to the ground and handcuffed him behind his back. At this point, two other officers from the Regensburg North Police Inspectorate arrived at the scene. At 7:21 p.m., one of the officers who had arrived radioed that the situation was 'under control' (...).”
Daniel S. continued to resist “violently”.
So he was put in shackles.
"As a result, the man who was tied up continued to resist until he unexpectedly fell unconscious at a time that cannot be precisely determined," it said.
What the officials did to stop the resistance is not mentioned.
Prosecutor: Death was "interplay of various causes"
The next emergency call followed at 7:26 p.m. – Daniel S. had lost consciousness, it said.
The officials had started “with appropriate resuscitation measures”.
The prosecutor's statement goes on to say:
"The ambulance originally called for the injured pedestrian arrived at the scene at around 7:30 p.m. At around 8:00 p.m., the rescue efforts had to be stopped and it was determined that death had occurred.”
According to the public prosecutor, the onset of death can be explained by an “interaction of various causes”.
In doing so, reference is essentially made to the above-mentioned report by Professor Betz:
"The obtained medical expert opinion leads in this respect in particular to a borderline high heart weight of the deceased with a latent readiness for failure of the heart muscles (1.), the intake of the drug clozapine (2.), possible (interaction) effects with proven cannabinoids (3.) and the considerable physical exertion by the
deceased as part of the acts of resistance (4.).”
Prosecutor: Dead was massively aggressive before
The public prosecutor's office further stated that "an evaluation of the medical history of the deceased" revealed "that he had been housed several times over the past ten years due to mental illness due to raptus-like states of excitement and massively aggressive behavior towards others, sometimes towards his own family members and sometimes had to be tied up".
In summary, the public prosecutor came to the conclusion "that the use of direct force by the police officers involved was in accordance with the Bavarian Police Tasks Act and was in no way objectionable".
Investigations into death closed: family considers complaint
The family of the deceased does not simply want to accept this.
As their lawyer Philipp Pruy reports, he has only received the public prosecutor's decision to terminate the case so far.
He does not yet know the protocols of the interrogations of the police officers.
"We are currently reviewing a complaint to the Attorney General's Office against this decision."
With the support of an anonymous donor, the family commissioned a second autopsy of Daniel S. at the LMU in Munich.
Congestion bleeding and bleeding in the tissue were found there, which could have been triggered by pressure on the chest and a resulting respiratory blockage.
Death in a police operation: officials had turned off body cams
According to lawyer Pruy, the Munich experts "almost ruled out" that this bleeding could have occurred afterwards, due to attempts at resuscitation.
In contrast to the expert commissioned by the public prosecutor's office, Betz.
Neither report was able to determine a clear cause of death.
Apart from the local police officers, there are also no independent witnesses who could have observed the arrest in the immediate vicinity.
The existing body cams were switched off.
There is no obligation in Bavarian legislation to switch them on.
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