Death Of Man In Police Custody Ruled An Accident
A coroner's jury ruled on the death of Abel Rosiles, who authorities say swallowed a bag of cocaine while being arrested in June.
LAKE COUNTY, IL — A Lake County coroner's jury has found the June death of a Round Lake Beach man who died while being arrested was an accident, the Daily Herald is reporting. The jury ruled Abel Rosiles Jr., 21, died while choking on a bag of cocaine.
The ruling came last week in a rare legal proceeding where six citizens picked to sit on a jury rule on how a person died, according to the article.
Authorities in Round Lake Beach took Rosiles into custody at the Thornton's Gas Station, 180 East Rollins Road, at about 11 p.m. on June 10. An employee at the gas station pushed the panic button after Rosiles began yelling at him and threatening him, according to authorities.
During his arrest, Rosiles was able to get away, running about 30 feet before he was apprehended again. As officers walked him back to the squad car, they noticed he was having trouble breathing, police said.
Officers attempted to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on Rosiles and tried to clear his throat, but they did not see anything lodged in it and requested assistance from paramedics, police said. Officers took off Rosiles' handcuffs and performed CPR on him until paramedics arrived.
Rosiles was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center. On June 11, police learned he was still alive but did not have any brain activity, according to the news release. Rosiles was later pronounced dead at 3:53 a.m. on June 18, Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper said in a statement.
Rosiles' family says they will continue to fight for justice and argued the jury was not shown all available video of his arrest, according to the Daily Herald.
The Round Lake Beach Police Department did release videos taken from the squad cars of officers who responded to the disturbance and Rosiles' subsequent arrest to the public in the days following Rosiles' death. Those videos are available on the police department's Facebook page.