A Southern California family is left searching for answers after a 25-year-old man died from cardiac arrest Thursday while “more than five officers were sitting on him.”
The Montclair Police Department was called to Christian Siqueiros’ former apartment building after a neighbor called them to report that he was “acting strangely.”
That phone call seems to have cost him his life.
When police arrived at the apartment building that Siqueiros had recently moved out of, police claim that he became “combative.” Witnesses say that at this point 5 to 8 officers began sitting on him while restraining him.
“When I came out, I saw they were sitting on him and that they had tied his legs,” a neighbor who chose to remain anonymous told NBC LA.
Another witness explained that at this point he became unresponsive, and officers attempted CPR unsuccessfully. They also stated that an ambulance did not arrive on the scene for 30 minutes. He later died at the hospital.
His sister Maria tearfully explained that her brother was in good health, with no known medical issues, and was a happy, giving, and proud uncle.
“They don’t need 20, 30, 10 cops to be on top of the guy just to stop him,” said his sister Maria, who explained that her family just wants to know the truth about what happened so that they can be at peace.
Siqueiros would have been 26 on Monday and a candle filled memorial has been placed at the spot where he was last seen alive.
Police have not released any new information regarding Siqueiros death since Thursday, and have only said that the incident is under investigation.
One can’t help but reminded of Eric Garner, who the police claimed died from a heart attack, ignoring their officers actions which triggered them – “compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police,” according to the autopsy.
It will be interesting to see what the medical examiner finds, if the report is made public.
