Disturbing bodycam video shows Dallas cops restraining unarmed man and mocking him as he died: 'It’s time for school'
DALLAS, TEXAS: Disturbing police body camera footage released following years of legal battle has shown how police officers were laughing and joking as a man they pinned down to the ground became unresponsive and died.
The family of the man, Tony Timpa, 32, has reportedly sued the police department alleging that the officers' use of excessive force was a factor in his death.
The 2016 footage was released after a federal judge in in Dallas, Texas ruled on Monday, July 29, that "the public has a compelling interest in understanding what truly took place during a fatal exchange between a citizen and law enforcement."
The shocking clip shows cops pinning Timpa on the floor as he begs for help and screams: "You're gonna kill me! You're gonna kill me!"
The officers reportedly did not check for Timpa's pulse after he became unresponsive and joked that they would be forced to wake him up.
Timpa, at the time, was off his mental health medicines and had taken drugs at the time of the encounter with the police.
The officers held him down for nearly 14 minutes, zip-tied his limbs as they kneeled on his back with his face on the ground.
The incident occurred on August 10, 2016, when Timpa called the police dispatchers from a parking lot and told them he had not been taking his prescription medication for schizophrenia and depression.
Police, in their incident reports, had stated that Timpa appeared aggressive when they first approached him, Dallas News reported.
According to a custodial death report submitted later in 2016 to the state of Texas, the Dallas Police Department also said that he did not resist arrest.
The officers involved in the incident stated that they were pinning Timpa to the ground so that he would not roll over into the nearby street, however, the body camera footage shows that a police car was parked on the road to block any oncoming traffic.
The officers, in the footage, can be seen joking with each other throughout Timpa's ordeal, as one of them points to Timpa who appears to be unresponsive.
One of the officers says: "I don’t want to go to school!” as he appears to mock a teenager. "Five more minutes, mom!” “It’s time for school—wake up!" the officers shout at Timpa as they push his limp body around.
Timpa was reportedly given a sedative despite officers already questioning whether he was conscious.
According to an official autopsy, Timpa died due to "the toxic effects of cocaine and the stress associated with physical restraint," the Dallas Morning News stated.
The three responding officers involved in the incident—Kevin Mansell, Danny Vasquez and Dustin Dillard—were indicted on misdemeanor charges in 2017 for deadly conduct. However, the charges were later dropped and they have since returned to work.
Timpa's death has caught national attention and led to an investigation by the New York Times in 2017 long with multiple legal battles.