Fort Worth PD Fires 5 Officers After Man's Death in Police Custody

Five Fort Worth police officers were fired and two others were suspended without pay Tuesday after the department completed an investigation into the death of a man who died in police custody last summer.The incident happened July 26 after police were called to the 3300 block of Griggs Avenue in response to an armed man attempting to break into a home, police said.While handcuffed, the man complained of medical issues. He was placed in a patrol car, but officers didn't call for medical aid, police said.The man was found unresponsive in the car after the officers finished investigating the scene. He was taken to a local hospital where he died, officials said.Multiple violations occurred during the incident, police said, including failure by the officers to protect the rights of a person in police custody. Details on the additional violations weren't provided in a department news release.The fired officers were identified as T. Stephens, D. Pritzker, C. Golden, H. Fellhauer, and M. Miller. Officers S. Smith and A. Scharf were suspended without pay, according to the department."The actions taken by the officers involved in this incident discovered during our investigation are not in accordance with the values of the Fort Worth Police Department or the standards that citizens of Fort Worth have for their police department," the department said in a statement.The officers' actions are still pending being reviewed by a grand jury, police said.  Continue reading...

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