Combative Suspect Dies in Restraints

Hours after a 29-year-old Lakewood man died after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies “hogtied” him, departmental officials Wednesday defended their year-old policy of restraining violent suspects by linking their wrists and ankles.

Victor Cox allegedly became combative with deputies, who were investigating a spousal abuse call made from his Lakewood home Tuesday night. Sheriff’s officials said Cox was not going to be detained or arrested and that initially he cooperated with them.

But when deputies were winding up their investigation and tried to retrieve some items for Cox’s wife, he became agitated. Sitting in the back of a patrol car with the door open, Cox kicked the door, causing it to strike a deputy near his eye, authorities said.

The deputies attempted to use pepper spray to subdue Cox, but he appeared unfazed by the chemical irritant, sheriff’s deputies said. They then attempted to handcuff him when he bit another deputy, deputies said.

The deputies, who had twice called for backup assistance, then used the so-called rip hobble restraint to tie his ankles and link them with his wrists. The technique is slightly different from previous “hogtying” practices in that authorities now allow suspects more movement: The hands and wrists are not tightly bound together.

Additionally, the Sheriff’s Department allows suspects to lie on their sides or to be seated when they are restrained. And the deputies also now call for paramedics as a matter of routine.

But the practice continually comes under scrutiny. Many law enforcement agencies have been sued after suspects died in such restraints.

A year ago, the Sheriff’s Department examined its restraint practices and developed new guidelines.

Lt. Mike McDermott, who works in the department’s field operations training unit and developed the new guidelines, said the practice now reduces the pressure on the restrained individuals’ chests and abdomens.

Still, McDermott said that with a majority of suspects who died after they were hogtied, other factors such as drugs or alcohol contributed to their deaths.

An autopsy must be conducted on Cox to determine the cause of his death and whether he had been using drugs or alcohol, officials said.

Neighbors who watched from their houses said they heard Cox’s wife and other relatives shouting for him to listen to the sheriff’s deputies and to cooperate with them.

“They had the [patrol car] door open talking to him then, boom, it was like someone threw a light switch,” said Capt. Frank Merriman, who oversees the sheriff’s homicide bureau. “There was a level of amicability. . . . The next thing you know, boom, he becomes extremely agitated.”

A swarm of sheriff’s deputies and supervisors were on hand in the 5500 block of Premiere Avenue on Tuesday night after deputies radioed for assistance. When paramedics arrived, Cox was on his side and still being verbally abusive, authorities said.

But while he was in the restraints, he stopped breathing and lost consciousness, deputies said. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

“There’s no outward indication that anything the deputies did caused him to die but we won’t know until we do the autopsy,” said Merriman.