By Martin Cole
A French delivery driver who died after being arrested in Paris pleaded “I’m suffocating” several times as police held him to the ground.
Footage has emerged of 42-year-old Cédric Chouviat saying he could not breathe seven times in 22 seconds as officers pinned him to the ground has outraged French residents in a scene reminiscent of that of George Floyd in the U.S which sparked world wide protests
Chedric Chouviat, a 42-year-old father-of-five, reportedly said he couldn’t breathe seven times in 22 seconds as the officers appeared to pin him down.
Four police officers have now been questioned over his death in January.
He died in hospital two days after the arrest. A coroner later ruled he’d died of asphyxia and a broken larynx.
The officers have previously said they stopped Chouviat for looking at his phone while riding his scooter, and for having a dirty licence plate, French newspaper Le Monde reported.
Investigators will now decide whether the four officers should be charged over the death.
None of the police officers involved in the case have been suspended. Their lawyer Thibault de Montbrial declined to comment on the latest reports, AFP news agency reported.
Four police officers are being questioned for “involuntary homicide” over the arrest near the Eiffel Tower in January that echoes the death of George Floyd in the US that has sparked worldwide protests and Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
Police said they stopped Chouviat on his scooter after claiming he was looking at his mobile phone and had a dirty licence plate. Officers claim he was disrespectful and abusive and resisted arrest.Officers may have felt he was being “provocative” or “defiant”.
Tapes examined by investigators suggest the situation turned after nine minutes and 44 seconds of exchanges in which Chouviat can be heard calling an officer a “fool” several times.
Chouviat had a heart attack and was taken to hospital in a coma. He died two days later. A postmortem concluded he had died from asphyxia having sustained a “fracture of the larynx.
dric Chouviat, a 42-year-old father-of-five, reportedly said he couldn’t breathe seven times in 22 seconds as the officers appeared to pin him down.
A coroner later ruled he’d died of asphyxia and a broken larynx.
The officers have previously said they stopped Chouviat for looking at his phone while riding his scooter, and for having a dirty licence plate, French newspaper Le Monde reported.
Decision
Investigators will now decide whether the four officers should be charged over the death.
None of the police officers involved in the case have been suspended. Their lawyer Thibault de Montbrial declined to comment on the latest reports, AFP news agency reported.