LOS ANGELES — The parents and six children of a man who died of a heart attack during an encounter with California Highway Patrol officers are suing the state and two CHP officers for wrongful death, alleging officials misled them by saying his death was accidental.
The relatives of the late Dominick Alvarado, 33, who lived in Beaumont, all live in Riverside County: his father and mother, Filiberto Alvarado and Shalymmar Pool, as well as his half-dozen minor offspring. Their Jan. 2 Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges excessive force, failure to summon medical care, interference with parent/child relationship, negligence, battery of a peace officer and civil rights violations.
The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages as well as undisclosed punitive damages against the two CHP officers. A CHP representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
According to the suit, Alvarado was involved in a traffic collision about 8:30 a.m. July 21, 2023, on the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway at La Tijerra Boulevard in Los Angeles, north of Manchester Avenue, after having suffered that morning from a psychotic experience related to his schizophrenia and a bipolar disorder conditions. Alvarado left the scene due to his condition, but returned later and allegedly was assaulted by the two CHP officers, according to the complaint.
One officer placed his knees on Alvarado’s thighs and the second put a knee on the decedent’s back, making it hard for Alvarado to breathe and caused him to have a heart attack, according to the suit, which further states the officers did not immediately summon aid and that Alvarado was later pronounced dead Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Other officers who could have come to Alvarado’s aid failed to do so, the suit states.
The autopsy report stated that the cause of Alvarado’s death was the “combined effects of cocaine, coronary artery disease and exertion during law enforcement restraint,” according to the suit, which further states the CHP previously told the family their loved one’s death was accidental.
