Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004 | 11:16 a.m.
Seven North Las Vegas police officers face a coroner's inquest after a medical examiner ruled that an incident in which a 25-year-old man died after a struggle with them in December was a homicide.
The inquest, scheduled for March 5, will determine whether the officers' actions were justified, excusable or criminal in the death of Daryl Hicks.
The official cause of death was asphyxiation with phencyclidine intoxication, or PCP, as a contributing factor, a spokeswoman for the Clark County coroner's office said. Hicks' death certificate was finalized last week.
"What people need to understand is homicide means death at the hands of another, it does not mean it's criminal in nature," Coroner Mike Murphy said.
Police and paramedics were called to the 2000 block of Hassell Avenue on the night of Dec. 16 after residents reported a naked man running around the neighborhood.
Hicks' grandmother, 86-year-old Blossie Hicks, said her daughter Joyce called 911 and asked paramedics for medical assistance for her son, but police also showed up.
Hicks played hide-and-seek with officers, darting in and out of his grandmother's house, police said, and he appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance. Officers subdued him with pepper spray.
No batons, Tasers or "unusual excessive force" was used on Hicks, police spokesman Officer Justin Roberts said at the time.
Officers handcuffed Hicks in order to keep him still while giving him medical care but did not arrest him. While en route to University Medical Center, he became unresponsive and was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Restraint asphyxiation can be caused when someone is held down and the person's own weight along with the pressure of another person makes it impossible for the person being held down to breathe, authorities said.
Soledad Garcia-Carillo, spokeswoman for North Las Vegas Police, declined to give further details on the case while the inquest is pending, but said the seven officers involved in the case have not been placed on leave.
Blossie Hicks said the officers didn't understand that her grandson was not a threat to them.
"He didn't do anything," she said. "He hollered and prayed for his life."
She was in her house when the melee occurred. She said she wants to move because of the bad memory of what happened to Daryl.
"It's hard, something like this," Blossie Hicks said. "They choked him right in my yard. ... I will never get over this."
This case is similar to several others in North Las Vegas and Metro's jurisdictions.
On April 11, 2002, 31-year-old Roberto Arce died of asphyxiation with cocaine intoxication and an enlarged heart as contributing factors after a struggle with six North Las Vegas officers. A coroner's inquest jury determined that the actions of the six officers were excusable.
Craig Becker, 46, died Feb. 16, 2002, after being combative with officers who were trying to take him into custody for a psychiatric examination. The officers were cleared of any wrongdoing.
French national Philippe LeMenn died Jan. 14, 2001, after a struggle with Clark County Detention Center correction officers. A coroner's inquest jury ruled 5-2 that LeMenn's death was excusable.
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