County to Pay Claim in Hogtie Case

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a wrongful-death claim involving a Lakewood man whose condition apparently was not monitored adequately by a paramedic after the man was hogtied by sheriff’s deputies.

The county counsel’s office said an autopsy determined that Victor Cox, 29, died from “excited delirium and cocaine intoxication.” In recommending the settlement, the counsel’s office said a jury probably would conclude that the paramedic’s failure to provide emergency medical treatment contributed to Cox’s death.

Officials said deputies were summoned to Victor Cox’s home on Premiere Avenue Sept. 5 by his wife, Zenobia Cox, who complained of spousal abuse. The deputies said that when Victor Cox, who was talking incoherently, tried to strike them, they tied his arms and legs together behind his back.

When one of the paramedics tried to question Cox, “he responded with profanities,” the counsel’s office said.

A few minutes later, the paramedic noticed that Cox had stopped breathing, the officials said. They said that instead of immediately using cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the paramedic waited until Cox had been placed in an ambulance. By the time the ambulance reached a hospital, Cox was dead.

The settlement will go to Cox’s wife and his three children.