On April 8, a 33-year-old man died at the Béziers (Hérault) police station, where he had been taken by municipal police after his arrest. He could not have been saved by the emergency services, despite 45 minutes of resuscitation.
Judicial information against X for voluntary violence resulting in death without intention to give it by a person holding public authority and failure to assist a person in danger had been opened by the Béziers prosecution, we learned on April 15. So far, there has been no indictment.
Heart rhythm disorders and asphyxia syndrome
Thursday evening, Raphaël Balland, the public prosecutor of Béziers, communicated the results of the autopsy of the victim's body. Results which do not allow to specify for the moment with certainty the cause of the death, indicates the parquet floor. "This death could result from cardiac arrhythmias of multifactorial origin (...) and an asphyxia syndrome, but (...) additional expertise is essential to support their hypotheses," said the representative of the prosecution.
A detailed examination of the victim's organs, "likely in particular to confirm or deny a possible asphyxia syndrome" was carried out. Its findings are not expected until the middle of July, however. Other investigations are also underway to try to clarify the causes of death.
Cocaine
In addition, the autopsy revealed in the blood of the deceased an "exceptionally high concentration of cocaine and its metabolites, indicating a last intake close to death". Shortly after the death of the 30-year-old, the doctors found, "hidden in an internal pocket of the deceased's underpants, four small pouches of a total of less than 2 g containing white powder".
An hour before his death, he had been checked to see if he could justify his presence outside his home because of the confinement measures. The three municipal police officers had indicated that the victim would have "refused control and that he would have adopted towards them a very aggressive behavior justifying (…) to proceed to his arrest", indicated the public prosecutor of Béziers, on April 9 .
A police officer would have sat on his buttocks
“The man then strongly and long resisted the arrest. The municipal police officers found it difficult to handcuff him and then get him into the back of their vehicle while keeping him on his stomach. A municipal policeman would then have sat on the buttocks of the still very excited individual in order to keep him until his driving to the police station, "a few hundred meters away, continues the prosecution.
During his transport to the police station, the man "would have calmed down", "the three police officers claiming to have heard him snore, letting them think that he was asleep".
Known to justice
A witness had indicated that he had witnessed part of the scene from his window: he would have confirmed "the state of excitement of the man arrested and the difficulty of the municipal police to control him". No video surveillance camera is installed at the site of the municipal police intervention, notes the magistrate. When he arrived at the police station, the man was unconscious. Helpful gestures were then lavished on him by the police, then by the emergency services. His death was noted soon after.
The unemployed victim is the father of three young children, whose custody was assigned to his ex-partner, we learned on April 9 from the prosecution. Known by the justice system, he had been sentenced 8 times since 2005, notably for violence and theft.
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Béziers: Causes of death of man arrested by municipal police still unknown
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Béziers: Opening of judicial information after the death of the man arrested by the municipal police
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