Fort Worth police investigate death of man under ‘medical distress’ while handcuffed
The Fort Worth Police Department is investigating the death of a man who police say showed signs of medical distress after he was handcuffed by officers arresting him at La Gran Plaza.
On Tuesday at about 12:50 p.m., an officer was working off-duty in the shopping mall, at 4200 South Freeway Service Road when the incident began. The man entered the shopping center and was “acting erratically,” according to police.
Security guards at La Gran Plaza tried to detain the man, who police said was causing a disturbance. When security approached the man, he was accused of assaulting a security guard, according to police.
The off-duty Fort Worth officer provided assistance to the security guard, police said.
On-duty officers responded to the mall to assist in taking the man into custody. Police did not say how many officers were involved.
The officers were able to handcuff the man, which led to a “de-escalation of the situation,” a police spokesman told the Star-Telegram.
While in handcuffs, the man started showing signs of medical distress, according to police. Fearing that the man was having a medical emergency, police said, the officers removed his handcuffs and provided him with medical aid.
The man, who was identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office as 20-year-old Brandon Josiah Zapata, was taken to a hospital for treatment, but was later pronounced dead.
The cause of his death is under investigation.
The department’s Major Case Unit is investigating. Police did not answer a question about whether they plan to release body-camera video from the incident.
Olga Mercado, the owner of a western wear shop close to the scene, said she saw the man in the custody of a police officer and a security guard. She said he was walking with them, but moving a lot like he didn’t feel well and was struggling to breathe. She felt sorry for him, she said, and was surprised to find out he had died.
“I couldn’t believe it, because I had seen him walking,” Mercado told the Star-Telegram in Spanish.
Mercado said the officers and the man turned the corner near her store and she couldn’t see them anymore. Then she heard a loud thud and thought the man had fallen. When she saw the man he had his pants and shoes on, but Mercado said they were later left on the floor near the scene and had possibly come off when he was struggling.
Another woman who works nearby and who asked not to be identified told the Star-Telegram in Spanish that she heard the man screaming. She didn’t see anything because she was helping customers at the time, but she could hear the law enforcement officers trying to calm him down.
Janet Delgado, an employee in one of the nearby businesses, said she heard the man screaming and came out to see what was happening. The man was sitting on the ground by that time and struggling to breathe, she said. A police officer and a security guard were with him and trying to help him, she said in Spanish.
Delgado said based on what she saw, she believes the officers behaved appropriately and tried to help the man “at all times.” Her only concern was that the paramedics didn’t arrive until at least half an hour after the incident started by her calculations.
Chris Ramirez, a spokesperson for the security office at La Gran Plaza, said that mall security couldn’t comment on the incident because of the ongoing investigation.
This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 8:43 PM.
