Dying Oklahoma man told police "I can't breathe" during arrest last year. Officer responded, "I don't care"
Oklahoma City police have released body-camera videos of an armed black man who died in police custody last year after telling arresting officers "I can't breathe." One of the officers can be heard responding, "I don't care."
The footage of the May 2019 arrest of 42-year-old Derrick Elliot Scott, also known as Derrick Ollie, was released late Monday. The videos were released following a demand from the Oklahoma City Black Lives Matter group and requests from several media outlets, said Oklahoma City Police Capt. Larry Withrow.
In the videos, Scott can be heard moaning and telling officers he couldn't breathe as at least one officer straddled him in an attempt to place him in handcuffs. After he's handcuffed, Scott appears to go in and out of consciousness. Paramedics are called, and Scott is placed on a gurney and transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Before the videos were released publicly, they were shown to Scott's family.
"It was very troubling to watch," said Scott's son, Derrick Ollie. "They stood by and did nothing and acted as if he was OK, when he told them plenty of times that he couldn't breathe. They're laughing and joking like something is funny, when this man was struggling for his life."
Vickey Scott told CBS station KWTV her son had asthma and was truly fighting to breathe.
"To know that his inhaler was there and the officer threw it to the side," she said. "And when he said he couldn't breathe, he said he did not care."
Scott, who was armed with a handgun, matched the description of a suspect who had brandished a firearm, according to police. As police officers approached him, the video shows Scott ran away before one officer tackled him. The officers then struggled to handcuff Scott as he complained he couldn't breathe.
An autopsy report listed the probable cause of death as a collapsed lung and noted several conditions that likely contributed to his death, including physical restraint, recent methamphetamine use, asthma, emphysema and heart disease.
"The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office Report stated there was no fatal trauma, and the manner of death was ruled as unknown," police noted in a statement released Thursday.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater cleared all of the officers involved last year after receiving a copy of the autopsy report.
"This guy runs from the police. He's got a 90% occluded major artery in his heart," Prater told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I mean, he's just a perfect candidate to die when you've got meth in your system and those kinds of physical ailments and then you fight with police. They (officers) didn't do anything wrong at all."
Vickey Scott said police never notified her of her son's death but instead she learned of it on the internet, KWTV reported. The department admitted notification protocols were not followed.
"I know the department is reviewing their notification procedures for next-of-kin," said Oklahoma City police Capt. Larry Withrow. "Protocols we use now, those are under review."
