A California Highway Patrol sergeant and six CHP officers pleaded not guilty on Friday, June 9, to charges stemming from the death of a Burbank man who was restrained after refusing to have his blood drawn following a traffic stop on the 5 Freeway just over three years ago.
The 38-year-old man, Edward Bronstein, can be heard on video from March 31, 2020, repeatedly screaming, “I can’t breathe!” while in a garage of the nearby CHP station in Altadena.
His parents and children will receive a record $24 million civil-rights settlement from the state, the family’s attorneys have said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has said Bronstein initially declined to have his blood drawn following the freeway stop in Burbank for suspicion of driving under the influence and that an 18-minute video recorded by a CHP sergeant shows an officer warning him that if he didn’t comply, he would be going “face down on the mat and we’re going to keep going.”
“The video shows several officers restraining Mr. Bronstein, who is handcuffed and face down on the mat,” Gascón said. “A group of officers holds him down and presses their knees on his legs and neck as he repeatedly promises them that he will comply.”
Bronstein became unresponsive and officers held him down as a medical professional drew a vial of blood from him, and a second vial of blood was collected as he was “laying so lifelessly that the officers no longer need to hold him down because he’s dying as they’re watching,” the district attorney said.
The sergeant and officers were placed on administrative leave as a result of the charges, the CHP has said.
The seven charged with one count each of involuntary manslaughter and assault under the color of authority: Sgt. Michael Little, 58; Dionisio Fiorella, 39; Dustin Osmanson, 42; Darren Parsons, 48; Diego Romero, 35; Justin Silva, 30; and Marciel Terry, 32.
A registered nurse, Arbi Baghalian, 43, has pleaded not guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter. A judge had issued a warrant authorizing officers to utilize an on-call registered nurse to get a blood sample from Bronstein after he refused to submit to a blood test.
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office concluded that Bronstein died of “acute methamphetamine intoxication during restraint by law enforcement,” according to the CHP.
The eight remain free on their own recognizance. They are due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on July 25, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against the eight to proceed to trial.
The sergeant and officers could each face up to four years and eight months in state prison if convicted as charged, while the nurse could face a maximum of four years in prison, Gascón said.
Source: Orange County Register
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