Suit Is Filed Over Death of Man in Police Custody

The parents of a man who died in El Monte police custody after being chased down and struggling with officers have filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging deprivation of civil rights.

Police said Frank Tranquilino, 31, fought with several officers on Oct. 21, then lost consciousness after he had been handcuffed. Officers said they had suspected he was carrying narcotics and chased him after he ran from them.

Attorney Stephen Yagman, who filed the suit Friday on behalf of parents Sergio Tranquilino and Rosemarie Richardson, said he has spoken to eyewitnesses and has a different account of what happened.

“The police are lying when they said that, all of a sudden, he stopped breathing,” said Yagman, who has made a career of filing police misconduct lawsuits.

“He stopped breathing because they were choking him. That’s what they are not saying.” He said it is illegal for police to use a chokehold in California.

The cause of death has not yet been determined, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. The Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case at the request of the El Monte Police Department.

Tranquilino was walking in the 3300 block of Maxson Road about 4 p.m. Oct. 21 when he attracted the attention of police.

He sprinted down the street and climbed over several chain-link fences before being grabbed by an officer, said Lt. Gary Walker.

Tranquilino punched an officer several times in the face and escaped, running along a San Bernardino Freeway sound wall until he was confronted by another officer, Walker said. He threw a cinder block at officers but missed, Walker said.

Police said Tranquilino eventually was handcuffed and soon lost consciousness. He was taken to Greater El Monte Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:56 p.m.

Walker could not provide any details about Tranquilino’s alleged narcotics activity before the chase and could not confirm whether he had drugs on him when arrested.

The civil rights lawsuit is at least the second involving the El Monte Police Department in the last two years. The city, often ranked among the safest in the nation for its size, has been trying to redeem its public image since the controversial death of 65-year-old Mario Paz, who was shot in the back by an El Monte officer while he knelt beside his bed during a 1999 raid in Compton.

Federal and county prosecutors determined that Sgt. George Hopkins acted in self-defense because he thought Paz was reaching for a gun while his wife grabbed one of the officer’s legs.

Yagman alleged that, in the Tranquilino case, police stopped him because he was a relatively young Latino man.

The attorney said he is not only suing the officers, the city and the police chief, but also the mayor and City Council members for their failure to rein in what he called a rogue police department.

The suit seeks $20 million in general and punitive damages, plus attorney’s fees.

It seeks an additional $10 million under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. This is one of the few instances in which an attorney has sued a police department for alleged racketeering.

There is no information about “any abuse of power or excessive violence,” Walker said. “He was resisting arrest by running away and throwing things at the police.”

El Monte Police Chief Bill Ankeny said he was surprised that a suit was filed before the coroner’s office had determined the cause of death. He said Yagman has no evidence to show that Tranquilino died as a result of a chokehold.

The officers “used a control hold on him,” Ankeny said. “If there were any injuries related to that control hold, the coroner’s office would be the best jurisdiction to report on that.”

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Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.