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Wrongful death suit filed against Coitsville cops
YOUNGSTOWN
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Coitsville Township Police Department and Clemente McKay Ambulance Inc. of Struthers saying both failed to intervene to save the life of a man who was improperly restrained while in police custody.
The lawsuit was filed by Joseph Robbins of Columbia, S.C., nephew and fiduciary of the estate of Garry Robbins, 49, of Struthers, who was pronounced dead May 22, 2013.
Coitsville police placed Garry Robbins under arrest and had him transported via a company ambulance to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Despite the patient’s erratic behavior, Coitsville police “failed to properly restrain the decedent and negligently restrained him, all of which proximately caused his death by restraint asphyxia,” the suit says.
Coitsville Police Chief Michael Morris declined to comment on the lawsuit, and ambulance company officials did not respond to a request for comment.
The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office listed the time, date and place of injury as 10:28 p.m., May 21, 2013, on the roadside at McGuffey and State Line roads. Garry Robbins was pronounced dead in the hospital at 12:10 a.m., May 22, 2013, according to the death certificate.
An altercation with police resulted in prone restraint and transport, the coroner’s office said.
The coroner’s office listed the immediate cause of death as restraint asphyxia and ruled the death accidental.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney John A. McNally III of Youngstown, demands a jury trial and damages in excess of $25,000. The case is assigned to Judge Lou A. D’Apolito.