Police Beating, Not Overdose, Killed Man, Suit Charges : Law enforcement: Parents say LAPD officers used unnecessary force in subduing their son, who lawyer concedes was acting in a menacing way.

The parents of a man who died while in police custody filed a wrongful death suit Tuesday against the city of Los Angeles, saying that their son died of blows from a policeman’s baton, not from a cocaine overdose, the official cause of death.

Tracy Mayberry, 33, apparently was on drugs and ranting about being followed when he was confronted and handcuffed by police in Hollywood early Nov. 3. According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, officers cornered Mayberry on Norton Avenue when he refused to cooperate with their questioning.

Officers used “unreasonable and unnecessary deadly force” by repeatedly kicking and clubbing Mayberry with nightstick blows to the head and body, and hogtied him, the suit alleges, adding that police ignored Mayberry’s pleas for medical attention and similar pleas from witnesses.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s internal investigation unit has investigated the incident, but LAPD officials would not comment on whether the officers involved acted according to department procedures in trying to subdue the 6-foot-3, 272-pound Mayberry, citing the pending litigation.

“No formal disciplinary charges have been filed in the case,” LAPD spokesman Fred Nixon said.

The district attorney’s office also investigated the case but found no criminal culpability on the part of any involved officer.

Iris Johnson-Bright, a lawyer for the family, said Mayberry “was pursued by police officers and he was beat to death by at least four or five officers, while others stood around and watched.”

“They beat him to death in cold blood,” Johnson-Bright said.

She said Mayberry’s parents plan to seek a substantial amount of money. They could not be reached for comment.

Lawyers for Mayberry’s family readily acknowledged that Mayberry was acting in a menacing fashion on the day he encountered the officers, but said the department has many ways of subduing suspects--including Tasers and stun guns.

It could not be determined if Mayberry had a criminal record, but Johnson-Bright said police officers had come a week before his death to handcuff and subdue him for drug intoxication.

The coroner has determined that Mayberry died of acute cocaine intoxication. But autopsy reports also show Mayberry had bruises “all over the body,” including his left eyebrow and temple, chin, “left frontal region” and back.

Police officers said Mayberry was obviously intoxicated when they encountered him after he forced his way into an apartment and followed its residents into a bathroom, according to police reports. He grabbed an 8-year-old by the throat, pushed his mother into a bathtub, dropped the child and ran out into the street.

The reports say that officers used their batons to gain control of Mayberry, hitting him on the arms and legs. While an ambulance was on its way, the reports say, Mayberry began to have trouble breathing. Police tried to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but Mayberry was pronounced dead a short while later at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, the reports say.