LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) — A mother alleges her son suffered from positional asphyxia and died at the hands of San Bernardino California deputies who illegally detained him without medical care.
The Estate of Rodney Coleman by and through successor in interest Willie Mae Baylor and Willie Mae Baylor, individually, filed a complaint Aug. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, County of San Bernardino and Does 1 through 10 alleging excessive force, Fourth Amendment violations and other claims.
According to the plaintiff's complaint, her son, Rodney Coleman, was at a bus stop in Victorville, Calif., on Aug. 11, 2021, around 9 a.m. She claims sheriff's officers arrived at the bus stop around 9:55 a..m. and that Coleman did not consent to "the police contact." A news report says he kicked a deputy.
Baylor further claims Coleman was not showing any violent behavior or presenting a danger to the public but was exhibiting signs of intoxication and then was physically detained and handcuffed. The plaintiff alleges that Coleman became short of breath and was having difficulty breathing throughout his contact with the defendants, as they placed him a position that further restricted his breathing and then forced him into the back of a patrol car.
She claims her son was left in the back of the patrol car without monitoring after suffering from positional asphyxia and found unresponsive in the patrol car. She also claims the defendants also deprived her son of his right against unreasonable searches and seizures and failed to summon medical care, which resulted in his death.
The plaintiff seeks monetary relief, interest and all other just relief. She is represented by Christian Contreras of The Law Offices of Christian Contreras in Los Angeles and Humberto Guizar of The Law Offices of Humberto Guizar in Montebello.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 5:23-CV-01586-SSS-SHK