WEST JORDAN, Utah, May 31, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A 33-year-old man handcuffed by West Jordan police in August 2023 died from mixed drug toxicity and not the officers’ attempts to restrain him, the Salt Lake County district attorney said Friday.
District Attorney Sim Gill declined to file charges against West Jordan police officers Matthew Collins and Nolan Butler in connection with the Aug. 27, 2023, death of Orlando Toro Garcia.
The state medical examiner determined Garcia “died as a result of mixed drug toxicity,” including cocaine, cocaethylene, oxycodone, and buprenorphine, according to DA’s office findings.
“Though the Medical Examiner determined that the actions of law enforcement may have contributed to the death, there is nothing remarkable from the video footage even to infer that the actions of the officers were anything other than reasonable efforts to stabilize the scene so that emergency medical responders could safely enter and provide medical aid to Mr. Garcia,” according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.
Officers responded to a 911 call at 1:42 a.m. about a possible overdose and a request for an ambulance.
“When the officers arrived, the relatives of Mr. Garcia told them that they did not know what drug he had taken. The responding officers asked Mr. Garcia to lie on his stomach and told him to put his hands behind his back so he could get medical attention,” the release says.
At 1:55 a.m., officers handcuffed Garcia, who “struggled against the restraints as officers reassured him that they were checking to be sure he didn’t have any weapons,” according to the DA’s office.
Officers rolled Garcia onto his side at 1:56 a.m., and he began to seize or choke.
“Officers called for fire medical personnel to get there and removed the handcuffs,” the release says.
Garcia was then rolled onto his back and officers began performing CPR until medical personnel arrived, according to the district attorney’s office. Life-saving efforts continued for more than 20 minutes before Garcia was pronounced dead.
“Based upon the facts and evidence before us, we do not believe it is likely that his death resulted from the officers’ attempts to gain physical control of him,” the release says.
