California cops ignore dying man’s health during traffic stop

'What you can see is pretty horrific'

(Morris Lawfirm APC/YouTube)

Two California police officers repeatedly ignored signs of medical distress from a dying El Centro man they suspected to be a drug dealer.

Video of the highly scrutinized traffic stop were unsealed and made public on Thursday in an ongoing lawsuit against filed against the El Centro Police Department and officers Corey Gustafsonm Ascension Felix, James Thompson and Richard Lopez.

The Morris Law Firm, representing the family of Charles Sampson, cites several officers for negligence and failure to provide Mr Sampson with medical attention. Christopher Morris, lead attorney for the firm, told the Imperial Valley Press that the footage was crucial evidence in the case.

“When I first took on the case I heard the testimony of the family and witnesses about what happened and is very different hearing from seeing. The one good thing the police department did was to save their body camera footage.”

“What you can see is pretty horrific,” he continued. “If it weren’t for the body cameras, this case would’ve never seen the light of day.”

The officers can be heard threatening to arrest Mr Sampson and his family members if he did not tell him where he was hiding drugs. They can be heard telling the man that their police canine had picked up the scent of narcotics. However, they would rescind these statements later, and after going into the man’s home, they failed to find any narcotics.

“We then responded to the address 165 Holt Ave. in the city of El Centro. I commanded my canine to sniff the residence for illegal narcotics with negative results. I then left the scene,” one officer wrote in his report.

Distraught family members called 911 for an ambulance, but this effort was thwarted by police after they called the dispatcher and told them to ignore all calls from the residence because the man was “putting on a show.”

Two hours later, Mr Sampson was taken to the hospital by a police officer who ignored instructions to take the man to jail.

According to the Imperial Valley Press, the police department sent out a statement late in the evening regarding the incident and video through it's Nixle account.

"Thursday afternoon, we became aware that a law firm released a highly-edited video related to the regrettable death of Charles Sampson Sr. on December 3, 3012," stated ECPD Chief Eddie Madueno.

“On the evening depicted in the video, Mr. Sampson ingested what the coroner's report listed as 'a lethal amount of methamphetamine.' The forensic pathologist's report indicated, in part, that Mr. Sampson had a 'history of methamphetamine and cocaine usage' and he 'suffered from an acute methamphetamine intoxication which resulted in his ultimate demise.'

“At no point while he was in custody did Mr. Sampson let the officers know he had ingested methamphetamine. In fact, he over and over again stated he did not desire or request medical attention.”

The trial in the case is set to begin May 2016 in a San Diego court.