Prince George’s County police failed to follow their rules for handling drugged-out suspects when, according to their account, they left Elmer Clayton Newman Jr. handcuffed in a cell and waited more than an hour to get him medical help before he died. According to the police department’s General Order Manual, officers are supposed to take suspects to a hospital as soon as they “exhibit bizarre behavior,” complain of sickness or if it is obvious that the person is high on drugs.Newman, 29, was arrested early in the morning of Sept. 22 after officers responded to his Suitland apartment for a 911 call. Police said he attacked them with his fists for no reason, was in a state of “delirium” and acted so out of control that they had to use pepper spray to subdue him. But instead of driving to a hospital, as their orders dictate, the Prince George’s officers took Newman to the Oxon Hill district station, where they locked him in a cell with his handcuffs still on. Police said Newman continued to thrash around and beat his head against the wall, but they did not call paramedics until an hour later when they noticed he had passed out. Police officials declined to comment on why Newman wasn’t given medical treatment earlier, saying the case was still under investigation. “That I can’t answer,” said Royce D. Holloway, a police spokesman. After completing an autopsy, the Maryland chief medical examiner ruled the case a homicide, attributing Newman’s death to both a cocaine overdose and injuries he sustained at the hands of police. The FBI and Prince George’s prosecutors are conducting separate investigations. Five months later, with authorities saying little else, exactly what happened to Elmer Newman remains unclear. Prince George’s police have given conflicting accounts of several key aspects of the case and have been challenged by witnesses on other points, according to documents and interviews. Shortly after Newman died, for example, police said he had sustained “contusions” to his wrists when officers handcuffed him but did not appear to have any other injuries. Last week, however, police acknowledged that the medical examiner’s report states Newman suffered neck and chest injuries so severe that they contributed to his death. Police also have given contradictory statements about how many officers were involved. a 65-year-old neighbor who saw Newman’s arrest through the peephole of her apartment across the hall said he did not resist as two officers detained him and led him from the building.
Source: The Washington Post
Funeral for Justice 