California County Paying Pay $1.35M in Custody Death Suit

San Diego County and other defendants have agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the mother of a Mexican citizen who died after sheriff’s deputies arrested him in 2018, officials said.

The lawsuit filed by Dolores Rosales, of Tijuana, alleged deputies used excessive force when they took her son, Marco Antonio Napoles-Rosales, into custody in August 2018, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The court filing claimed the deputies used a stun gun, their body weight and a wrap-around restraint device to subdue Napoles-Rosales, who was suspected of trespassing at a gas station in Fallbrook.

He lost consciousness during the arrest and was taken to a hospital, where he died the next day.

Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Mexican consul general in San Diego, said that Napoles-Rosales’ mother and the consulate felt satisfied with the settlement and pleased that the lawsuit brought the circumstances of his death to the public’s attention.

“May this case remind us all that the excessive use of force is not acceptable under any circumstances,” Gonzalez Gutierrez said.

San Diego County spokesperson Michael Workman referred a request for comment to the chair of the Board of Supervisors, Nathan Fletcher. His office did not immediately respond to the Union-Tribune.

An autopsy determined Napoles-Rosales died of sudden cardiopulmonary arrest caused by methamphetamine intoxication and exertion during the struggle with deputies. The manner of death was undetermined. A toxicology screen found methamphetamine and amphetamines in his blood when he died.

After reviewing Napoles-Rosales’ death, prosecutors decided no criminal charges would be filed against the deputies who used force against him.