Coroner’s inquest weighing cops’ involvment in man’s death

Friday, March 5, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

A Clark County coroner's inquest jury was expected to decide today whether the actions of seven North Las Vegas Police officers were justified, excusable or criminal in the death of a 25-year-old man in December.

The cause of Daryl Hicks' death was asphyxiation with phencyclidine intoxication, or PCP, as a contributing factor, according to the coroner's office.

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.

Police said Hicks played hide-and-seek with the officers, darting in and out of his grandmother's house, and he appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance. Officers subdued him with pepper spray.

Officer Justin Roberts, spokesman for the department, said at the time that no batons, Taser guns or unusual excessive force was used on Hicks.

Officers said they handcuffed Hicks 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.

Those involved in the case are Officers Leonard Cardinale, Anthony Lettieri, Robinson Reed, Richard Rodriguez and Carey Wittwer and Sgts. Anthony DiMauro and Tim Grady.

Two of the officers have faced and were cleared in coroners' inquests in prior cases. Cardinale was one of five officers who restrained a combative suspect in 2002. The inquest jury gave the unusual ruling that the suspect, Roberto Arce, caused his own death.

Grady was found to be justified in shooting and killing a man who was holding a knife to his girlfriend's throat in 2002.

Reed shot and wounded an 18-year-old man in August 2003 because he appeared to be reaching for a gun. His family later filed a $5 million lawsuit against the police department.