The terrifying last moments of the California father’s life are captured in heartbreaking police footage of him screaming “I can’t breathe” as he dies as he is held face down on the ground so police can take a blood sample.
Edward Bronstein, 38, died on March 31, 2020, less than two months before George Floyd was killed by police in Minnesota after an altercation during his arrest on suspicion of drunk driving.
He was pulled over for drunk driving but taken to the police station after he refused to give a blood sample, which his family said was due to a fear of needles. Bronstein began to weep in fear after being pinned face down to the ground shortly thereafter, and died soon after, with attempts to revive him unsuccessful.
The California Highway Patrol fought to keep the footage from being made public after the man’s family sued for excessive use of force and civil rights violations, but a federal court judge on Tuesday ordered the footage to be made public.
Bronstein protests blood donation because his family says he was afraid of injections
Edward Bronstein, 38, died on March 31, 2020, less than two months before George Floyd was killed by police in Minnesota after repeatedly telling officers, “I can’t breathe.”
An 18-minute video of the arrest, filmed by a California Highway Patrol sergeant in Pasadena, shows handcuffed Bronstein, the father of two daughters, arguing with police as he is led to a mat on the garage floor of Altadena Station and forced to his knees to take a blood sample. which he refused to surrender.
He initially argues, but starts screaming in fear after being thrown face down on the ground.
“I will do this willingly,” Bronstein is heard to say as two officers looming over him, and a man is heard warning him not to resist a court-ordered blood sample to determine his level of intoxication.
“You can just provide it and still say you don’t agree,” the officer tells him, continuing to protest his treatment. “You’re the one making the fight, not us.”
“I don’t fight at all,” Bronstein says as the officer puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Then sit down and give you a hand.” This is your last opportunity,” the patrolman said. “Otherwise, you will lie face down on the map, and we will continue.”
Bronstein’s family said he was afraid of needles.
The officers pounce on Bronstein and rip his legs out from under him, causing him to writh on the ground.
Five officers can be seen kneeling in front of him as he shouts “I will do it willingly, I will do it willingly.”
“Too late,” the officer says. “We haven’t even poked you yet. You need to relax.’
Then Bronstein says: “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”
Edward Bronstein, shown here with his daughter Isabella, died in police custody after repeatedly telling police “I can’t breathe” as they knelt on his back while trying to take a blood sample.
Eventually, he stops moving and the officers draw blood from his limp body.
The second video, over 12 minutes long, shows the unsuccessful attempts of officers and medics to resuscitate Bronstein.
You can see how they hit him on the head and call him by name.
They turn him over and begin artificial respiration and oxygen, but he has not recovered.
One officer informs the paramedics that Bronstein complained of “shortness of breath”.
“When we flipped it back, it turned blue,” he said.
George Floyd, 46, died in May 2020 in Minneapolis after Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck during an arrest.
Shortly thereafter, someone reminds the group, “All on camera.”
The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office cited Bronstein’s cause of death as “acute methamphetamine intoxication during law enforcement detention.” A copy of the autopsy report was not immediately available.
The family is demanding that the Los Angeles County District Attorney file criminal charges against the police.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said “the matter is under review.”
“When there was an uproar in the country over the tragedy of George Floyd, we had no idea that the same thing happened to Mr. Bronstein,” said Luis Carrillo, a lawyer for the Bronstein family.
“In my opinion, the officers have shown a callous disregard for the value of human life, and their actions should be investigated as potentially criminal acts,” Bowling Green University criminal justice professor Philip Stinson told The Associated Press.
The state attorney general’s office is representing the Highway Patrol and officers in the federal lawsuit and has referred media inquiries to the CHP.
Officer Chanel Gonzalez, spokesperson for CHP, said the agency was refusing to comment on the case due to the pending litigation.
A 2021 law signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom makes it illegal for police to hold suspects face down because the maneuver has resulted in many unintentional deaths. Inspired by the death of George Floyd, it was adopted after Bronstein’s death.
Eric Garner, 43, died in July 2014 in State Island, New York after officers applied a prohibited chokehold to his neck.
Before Floyd, Eric Garner died in 2014 during an arrest in which he also complained that he could not breathe. It was determined that the officers used a prohibited choke hold to subdue him. His death was part of the start of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Stinson said the dangers are well known, but in this case the officers prepared the checkmate, giving the impression that ‘it was common for officers to put someone face down on the mat to get consent, to get what they wanted.’
What’s more, their on-camera comments seemed to indicate that they wanted to “teach someone a lesson: ‘Well, if you’re not going to do what we want you to do, we’re going to do it hard.’ way, and it will be painful for you,” said Stinson, who viewed the video on demand from the Associated Press.
Finally Stinson said: “They seem to have treated the incident as if the man was pretending to be unconscious. The officers did not seem the fact of a medical emergency for many, many minutes.”
Family members say Bronstein was afraid of needles and believe that is why he was initially reluctant to submit to the refinery when they tried to take a blood sample. In the video, an officer tells Bronstein that they have a court order, a statement that Carrillo doubts.
According to Eugene O’Donnell, a professor of police studies at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the police acted in a way that the public would no longer tolerate.
“It’s just a potentially explosive situation,” said O’Donnell, who also viewed the AP-requested video. “If they don’t comply, the police can no longer have these wrestling matches with people because the consequences are thought to far outweigh the risk of any benefit.”
The lawsuit named nine officers and one sergeant.
The officers are Carlos Villanueva, Christopher Sanchez-Romero, Darren Parsons, Diego Romero, Dusty Osmanson, Eric Voss, Justin Silva, Dionisio Fiorella and Marciel Terry. His name is also Sergeant Michael Little.
The healthcare worker’s lawyer said the firm he works for was “heartbroken” to learn of the death.
Lawyer John C. Kelly said in a statement that the company is not involved in the arrest or physical treatment of anyone, but is simply taking blood samples for testing. They do not have to provide a medical examination or assessment, and most do not have such training.
In this case, it was, he wrote, and when Bronstein stopped responding, the company employee “provided all the help he could under the circumstances.”