Parents Claim Fresno Cops Drowned Their Son

Parents Claim Fresno Cops Drowned Their Son

FRESNO, Calif. (CN) - Fresno police and sheriff's officers killed a man by Tasering, pepper-spraying and hogtying him, then drowning him with a garden hose, the man's parents claim in court.

Paul and Eva Rosas sued the City and County of Fresno, three police officers and two sheriff's deputies for the death of their son, Paul Rosas, who died in June 2011.

Paul Rosas was at a friend's house when defendant sheriff's Officers Christian Lightner and Manuel Flores showed up, the parents say in the federal complaint. The complaint does not state why the deputies went to the house.

"One of the defendants, Christian Lightner or Manuel Flores, used force against decedent, including pepper spray and punches and kicks to the decedent. Decedent was compliant with the deputies' commands and he was neither assaultive nor combative with the deputies," the parents say in the complaint.

Defendant police Officers Sammy Ashworth and Troy Miller then entered the house and Tasered their son, the Rosas say. They claim the officers hogtied their son by cuffing his hands behind his back and tying his ankles to the handcuffs. They took him to the back yard and slammed his face onto a table, according to the complaint.

Rosas "stated that he couldn't breathe and that he needed water. Defendant Ashworth ran water from a hose onto decedent's face and mouth. Decedent tried to move his mouth away from the water and gasp for air. A witness yelled, 'He can't breathe, you're drowning him,' but defendant Ashworth continued running water over decedent's face," the parents say in the complaint.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/06/06/58274.htm