The family of a California man who died after a December encounter with police in his home filed a legal claim last week alleging that the Antioch Police Department’s treatment of the 30-year-old led to his death.
Cassandra Quinto-Collins and her family filed the claim on Thursday on behalf of Quinto-Collins’s son, Angelo Quinto, who died days later at a hospital after an officer knelt on his neck while restraining him for nearly five minutes. A family attorney announced the claim at a press conference the same day.
Quinto, who was born in the Philippines, served in the U.S. Navy before being discharged in 2019 for a food allergy, The Washington Post reported.
The incident occurred in December after Quinto-Collins called police to her house to help deal with her son while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.
“He said, ‘Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me,'” Quinto-Collins told local Fox affiliate KTVU. “I was there. I was watching them. I trusted them. I thought they know what they’re doing.”
“This was a healthy person before, no physical problems,” the family’s attorney, John Burris, said at a news conference Thursday. “And within moments, his life is gone.”
A spokesman for the Antioch Police Department (APD) told KTVU last week that an investigation into the man’s death is ongoing.
“Once some additional portions of the investigation are completed, APD will be getting together with all the involved agencies to provide more information to the public,” said Lt. John Fortner.