Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Family: Police action during arrest contributed to death

Officers say man high on cocaine charged at them during domestic incident

The brother of Roberto Arce was on the floor of the federal courtroom Monday re-enacting how North Las Vegas police officers had his brother in their custody -- to the best of the memory of Arce’s widow, Joana.

The Arce family claims the officers had Roberto’s arms and legs “hogtied” together and put a rag and bee mask over his face, which led to him suffering cardiac arrest as he laid facedown on his garage floor.

Joana Arce testified that she could hear her husband’s cries that he couldn’t breathe from the second floor of their North Las Vegas house.

The 32-year-old Roberto Arce died three days later at MountainView Hospital when he was removed from life support.

The family filed a wrongful death suit in U.S. District Court in April 2004 naming the police department, Chief Joseph Forti and seven officers who responded to an emergency domestic violence call on April 8, 2002.

The suit alleges the officers violated Arce’s constitutional rights against unreasonable seizures and that they were indifferent to his health and safety.

Attorneys selected an eight-member jury Monday and began testimony with Arce’s family. Attorneys expect to call as many as 30 witnesses during the two-week civil trial.

Roberto Arce was a cocaine addict who, when under the influence of drugs, would change from genial into temperamental and withdrawn, his wife and his younger brother, David Arce, said on the witness stand.

When Roberto was under the influence, the family called police several times from 2000 until his death, hoping to get him help for his addiction, said Cal Potter, the family’s attorney.

Roberto was in a court-ordered drug program when he died, Potter said.

Potter said Arce was suffering from “excited delirium” caused by the cocaine.

The condition, exemplified by agitation, erratic behavior, a high body temperature and increased strength, has been brought up since the 1980s in cases of arrest-related deaths and where drug intoxication is a contributing factor, but it remains controversial.

The officers were not trained in how to deal with a person in such a state, Potter said.

“Had they been trained, the officers would’ve recognized these symptoms and responded to a medical emergency,” he said.

Defense attorney Breen Arntz said the officers were defending themselves from a violent man.

The defense claims Arce charged at the officers and bit one of them while wrestling him on the ground, which led police to place the mask on his face.

Officers took turns holding Arce down with his hands cuffed behind his back but when they eased up on him after he said he couldn’t breathe, he began thrashing about, Breen said.

A paramedic tied Arce’s ankles but not to his hands in a hogtie-style, Breen said.

“This is a tragic case of a family destroyed by drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence,” Breen said. “He still exposed his family to the effects of his drug abuse.”

During the struggle with police, Arce’s heart stopped. Paramedics resuscitated him and took him to MountainView, where doctors diagnosed him as brain dead.

The coroner ruled his death a homicide caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain due to “restraint asphyxia” and noted that he had high levels of cocaine in his system, according to court documents.

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