An Oregon woman who was arrested over an incident at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant repeatedly told deputies that she could not breathe while being booked into jail moments before dying, video showed.
Gerlinde Spring Lynch, 47, died at 11.42pm on February 18 as she was booked into the Clackamas County Jail in Oregon City for allegedly damaging property at a KFC parking lot about an hour earlier.
Shocking new footage from the jail showed how at least four deputies attempted to harshly strap Lynch onto a restraint chair, KATU reported.
‘I can’t breathe,’ Lynch said at least twice, also asking law enforcement to ‘let me go.’
The deputies could also be seen tightening a belt around Lynch’s stomach while yanking her around.
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Moments later, the cops moved Lynch forward to try to remove her ‘tight’ handcuffs, but that process was delayed after the key broke off in the lock.
After she was pulled back up, another deputy asked the others to check if she was still breathing before urgently calling a nurse over and starting CPR.
Lynch’s father, Ted Riggle, filed a notice of tort on Wednesday, formally indicating that he intends to ‘bring both federal civil rights claims and state wrongful death claims’ against the county,’ according to the outlet.
The medical examiner found that Lynch died of cardiac arrest because of methamphetamine toxicity, physical restraint, obesity and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
Lynch had 1500 ng/ml of methamphetamine in her system when she died, according to a toxicology test.
The medical examiner ruled Lynch’s death a homicide. That was a medical, not a legal, conclusion.
Riggle’s attorney, Chad Stavley, noted the result of the autopsy in the notice of tort.
He alleged that the restraint chair’s instructions ‘were available to and should have been known by CCSO deputies and jail supervisory staff,’ per the notice reported by KATU.
Lynch’s dad’s attorney claimed that the instructions came in bold red text and said: ‘IMPORTANT: Do not lean detainee forward. Remove handcuffs from the back of the chair while they are seated upright.’
Stavley alleged that the footage showed Lynch ‘urinating on herself while restrained in this forward–bent position with multiple deputies on top of her.’