Investigations against six police officers: Man (37) dies during arrest in Duisburg

Duisburg – After the death of a man (37) following a police operation in Duisburg, six officers and two emergency service employees are being investigated. The incident happened a few days ago. The Duisburg public prosecutor’s office announced this on Thursday.

The tragic and fatal incident happened over the weekend. A witness had it police alerted because he heard loud screams coming from an apartment. When the emergency services arrived at the apartment building in the Neuenkamp district, the 27-year-old had locked himself in the bathroom. He was actually just visiting.

After opening the door, the rioter shouted loudly. According to the Duisburg public prosecutor’s office, he damaged the furniture by violently “flailing around” and did not respond to the police officers’ reassuring speech. Since he could not be calmed down and was destroying more and more furnishings, “the officers gained access to the bathroom and, for reasons of self-security and for his protection, first put handcuffs and ankle cuffs on the man and called an emergency doctor and an ambulance,” said the police Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Man lost consciousness

But shortly after the rescue workers arrived, the man suddenly lost consciousness and had to be resuscitated by the police and paramedics. This was initially successful; the 37-year-old was taken to hospital in an ambulance, where he died a short time later.

The victim was then autopsied in the Duisburg forensic medicine department. Prosecutor Melanie Anderhup: “According to the preliminary results of the autopsy, it can be assumed that hypoxia was the cause of death. There are also indications of intoxication. Before a final assessment, further commissioned reports, in particular histological and toxicological examinations, are necessary.”

The bad suspicion: The tragic death cannot be ruled out as having been tied up in the prone position. That’s why the police are now investigating for reasons of neutrality Düsseldorf on suspicion of bodily harm resulting in death against six police officers and two emergency services employees who were allegedly involved in the restraint.

The two are suspected of causing bodily harm resulting in death through omission. According to BILD information, the police officers otherwise behaved correctly. According to initial investigations, there was no unnecessary violence against the man, but he should not have been tied up on his stomach for so long. So his own body weight squeezed the air out of him. There is also the suspicion that the man was under the extreme influence of drugs.