New Mexico cop charged with involuntary manslaughter after man in custody dies in neck restraint

[PoliticAverse]

A police officer from Las Cruces, New Mexico, is being charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of a man who he had restrained in February and placed in a neck restraint.

The man, Antonio Valenzuela, was pulled over on February 29 during a traffic stop, left the vehicle, and started running from officers, according to CBS El Paso affiliate KDBC-TV. Valenzuela had a bench warrant for his arrest from New Mexico Probation and Parole.

According to KDBC-TV, police said two officers tased him to no effect. A search warrant affidavit obtained by KDBC-TV said that Valenzuela was told multiple times to stop resisting the arrest, and that he had reached for a knife in his pocket.

Officer Christopher Smelser placed Valenzuela in a "vascular neck restraint" to subdue him, KDBC-TV reported. Valenzuela then became unresponsive, and was declared dead on the scene, police said.

Read the rest at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-mexico-cop-charged-with-involuntary-manslaughter-after-man-in-custody-dies-in-neck-restraint/