On August 1, 2016, 26-year-old Manuel Delacruz died in a Port Arthur, Texas, hospital during a scuffle with police officers. Delacruz was diagnosed as schizophrenic. In the days leading up to his death, his family said he hadn’t slept or eaten. In desperation, they took him to the Medical Center of Southeast Texas there in Port Arthur. He was unwilling to cooperate with the hospital staff, however. Family members contacted police for the purpose of obtaining a court order allowing admission to the emergency room. Delacruz refused to cooperate with officers from the Port Arthur Police Department, saying he would not put on a hospital gown because he feared being raped. According to family members, officers struck Delacruz, put him in a chokehold, and used an electronic weapon on him multiple times. It was during this encounter that Delacruz died. The parents have filed wrongful death lawsuits against the Port Arthur Police Department, the Medical Center of Southeast Texas, and specific individuals in connection with their son’s death, which they claim was entirely avoidable.
One of the claims the family is making is that the officers who repeatedly used an electronic weapon on Delacruz were inadequately trained. They also say five or six officers were scuffling with him, all at once.
Delacruz’s cause of death is unknown because the autopsy done was inconclusive. A grand jury at the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office did not indict any of the police officers involved in the incident with Delacruz.
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