Press Release: Man in Need of Medical Help Dies of Restraint Asphyxia After Being Handcuffed in Prone Position – Federal Lawsuit Filed

Man in Need of Medical Help Dies of Restraint Asphyxia After Being Handcuffed in Prone Position – Federal Lawsuit Filed

For Immediate Release

Houston, Texas – July 24, 2025

On Sunday, July 30, 2023, City of Dayton, Texas police were called to the Dayton Park Apartments, 4490 North Cleveland Street, Dayton, Texas 77535, for a welfare call regarding Andrew Golden. Andrew was wandering the area, apparently intoxicated from drug ingestion. A female Dayton police officer responded and briefly spoke to a person who called police after observing Andrew. The person indicated that Andrew had been wandering the area and in substance appeared to have taken drugs and was “tripping out.” The police officer saw that Andrew was exhibiting what she perceived as bizarre behavior. He was grabbing the ground and shaking. She told Andrew that EMS was en route to check him. A male Dayton police sergeant arrived at some point. The two officers interacted with Andrew, and Andrew was making little sense when speaking. Andrew told the officers that he had used heroin.

Andrew was eventually rolled onto his stomach, in a prone position, while the officers attempted to handcuff him from behind. A paramedic then arrived and decided to help officers handcuff Andrew from behind, while Andrew was still in a face-down position on the ground, and he used his knee in Andrew’s upper back area. The potential danger of positional/restraint asphyxiation in such a situation is a well-known hazard in the law enforcement and emergency medical services communities. The police sergeant demonstrated his knowledge when he finally told the paramedic to remove his knee from Andrew’s back: “Can you get your knee off his back? I don’t want him to suffocate.” It was too late. After the paramedic removed his knee, they saw that Andrew was no longer breathing. Andrew would ultimately receive medical treatment, but it could not save him. The medical examiner ruled Andrew’s death as a homicide.

Emma Henrie, M.D., Assistant Medical Examiner with the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, conducted an autopsy. Dr. Henrie noted several abrasions indicating blunt trauma of Andrew’s face. She also noted two abrasions indicating blunt force trauma of Andrew’s torso. Finally, she noted abrasions indicating blunt force trauma of Andrew’s extremities. She thus determined that there were blunt traumatic injuries of Andrew’s face, torso, and extremities.

Dr. Henrie also noted, as a result of viewing video recordings showing the handcuffing of Andrew, that she saw a knee being put onto Andrew’s upper back after he had been turned into a prone position. She saw it removed at some point, and then she saw a knee put onto Andrew’s right shoulder. After the knee was removed, one or more officers asked Andrew a question. Andrew did not respond and was therefore turned supine. Grass had to be removed from Andrew’s mouth. After CPR and helicopter transport to Memorial Hermann Hospital, Andrew was pronounced as being deceased.

Andrew’s autopsy was presented at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences Quality Assurance and Peer Review Conference on December 6, 2023. Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Pramod Gunpeni, M.D. agreed with Dr. Henrie regarding both the cause and manner of Andrew’s death. They determined that the cause of Andrew’s death was cardiac arrhythmia secondary to stress associated with physical restraint and fentanyl and methamphetamine toxicity. They also agreed that Andrew’s manner of death was “homicide.”

Constitutional rights lawyer Dean Malone represents Andrew’s son and filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Dayton and the ambulance service. Mr. Malone said, “Positional or restraint asphyxiation is nothing new to the law enforcement or medical services community. Undoubtedly, everyone at the scene of Andrew’s death know about the risk of death when a person is face-down on the ground, especially if the person is intoxicated. The public learned about this issue as a result of George Floyd’s death in 2020. If a person applies pressure to a person’s back, shoulder, buttocks, or upper legs while that person is face-down on the ground, there is a risk of death. Andrew needed medical help. Instead, he instead suffered a senseless death.”

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