EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – A grand jury has decided not to charge East Providence police over the death of a schizophrenic man who died in police custody.
A spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch said Friday that prosecutors and members of a grand jury believe that police used appropriate force under difficult circumstances when they restrained Leonel Farias.
Police tried to arrest him when responding to a domestic dispute on Feb. 27. Authorities say that Farias came at officers with a knife and refused to drop it.
Farias’ relatives said police used too much force, striking Farias even after he was already knocked to the ground.
He lapsed into unconsciousness and died. The medical examiner attributed his death to excited delirium, due to chronic schizophrenia.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.