Attorney for Family of Man Who Died in Police Custody Says Third Party Investigation is Warranted, Calls for Justice Department Investigation of Death

The morning after Pasadena City Manager Steve Mermell announced his office intends to hire a third party investigator to review the Sept. 30 death of Reginald Thomas, Jr. in Pasadena Police custody, the family’s attorney said she agrees an independent investigation “is warranted.”

Attorney Caree Harper also said she will be calling “for the Justice Department to investigate because local law enforcement seem unable or unwilling to properly investigate, discipline and prosecute its own.”

Harper also said Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey should appoint independent counsel.

“Lacey should also be on notice that rubber stamping the words of Pasadena PD officers will not be tolerated,” Harper wrote in a statement issued by email Tuesday morning. “As Ms. Lacey is clearly unable or unwilling to prosecute officers who kill unarmed citizens, she needs to appoint independent counsel immediately.”

Thomas died in police custody after he was tasered and struggled with Pasadena police who had responded to 911 calls for assistance at a residential complex in the 200 block of East Orange Grove Boulevard on September 30, at about 2:40 a.m.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s homicide detectives, who are investigating the case, said earlier that Thomas confronted responding officers carrying a knife under his arm and a fire extinguisher.

Pasadena police tasered Thomas at least twice and ultimately engaged in a physical struggle before restraining his ankles and handcuffing him. Shortly thereafter, law enforcement investigators said, officers saw that Thomas was not breathing. Despite reported rescue efforts, Thomas died.

In a claim filed on behalf of Thomas’s grandmother and three women with whom Thomas had children, attorney Harper alleges the officers used excessive force on Thomas and failed or delayed to perform CPR and first aid adequately when it became clear that Thomas was in distress.

“Our investigation has led us to believe that Ms. Thomas was the victim of positional asphyxiation and murdered by responding officers,” Harper said today. “Witnesses state that an officer intentionally and deliberately put a knee into Mr. Thomas neck until he stopped breathing and moving. Mr. Thomas’ head and face sustained lumps and other injuries consistent with accounts that he was beaten.”

A Pasadena Fire Department spokesperson said paramedics responded to a call of a “cardiac arrest” at the scene.

Harper’s claim also alleges that the Pasadena Fire Department paramedics were negligent.

The Los Angeles Medical Examiner-Coroner has not yet released the official cause of death.