Family of Man Who Died Following Alleged Assault by Toronto Cops Is Suing for $5 Million

Family members of a Toronto man who died following a clash with Taser-wielding police officers at his apartment more than one year ago are suing the police board and 10 unnamed officers for $5 million in damages.

Last November, police officers showed up at Rodrigo Hector Almonacid Gonzalez's apartment in Toronto's west end after his wife, Susana Chavarria, called 911 after he locked himself in the bathroom while they were having a verbal dispute in the middle of the night.

According to the family's statement of claim filed last month in an Ontario court, more than 10 officers eventually arrived, some armed with shot guns and riot shields. The officers then "physically extricated" Gonzalez from the bathroom, the statement alleges, and "inflicted grievous injuries" to him, "including multiple taserings and a brutal physical assault upon him."

He was then removed from the apartment on a stretcher by paramedics, with "severe facial, head and chest trauma and contusions along with two black eyes and electrocution injuries to his chest and groin," the claim continues. "He posed no danger to himself, the plaintiffs, the public or to any of the defendant police officers on the scene."

It adds Gonzalez, a 43-year-old hospital cleaner and father of two children, was unarmed and sober at the time, and did not have a history of mental illness.

After the altercation at the apartment, he was taken to the hospital and put in intensive care, where he died the next day. His death, the statement of claim asserts, was "a direct result of the physical assault and battery perpetrated against him by the defendant police officers," which are referred to as officers John Doe #1 to John Doe #10.

A photo taken by the family in the hospital shows Gonzalez's mother crying and hugging him as he lies flat on a hospital bed. He's hooked up to breathing tubes; there are bruises on his body and gauze wrapped around his head.

The family's claims have not been proven in court, and the police board has 20 days to respond. A spokesperson for the Toronto Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from VICE News, but told the Toronto Star on Monday that the board will "put out a statement of defence in due course."

An investigation by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) into the incident is ongoing. The SIU is the provincial police oversight body that probes incidence of death, physical or sexual assault involving police officers. The Toronto Star wrote at the time that it took five days for the agency to show up to Gonzalez's apartment.

The family's attorney, Kevin Wolf, told VICE news that SIU investigations can often drag out for years at a time, but that the injured parties are required to file civil suits within two years. "The family doesn't have the luxury of time to wait for the outcome of an SIU investigation," he said.

Further, all the officers involved in the incident would be required to testify under oath in civil proceedings, whereas any officers found to have caused injury or death are not required to cooperate with the SIU.

"The family is concerned that if officers don't cooperated with the SIU, the only way the family will discover what happened on that day is through this civil action," Wolf continued. "It's difficult for them to move beyond the grieving process when they have no information about how Gonzalez died."

Last week, a coroner's inquest was called into the death of Andrew Loku, a mentally ill Toronto man who was shot dead by police officers last summer while wielding a hammer. His case sparked outcry over police brutality and renewed protests by the Toronto chapter of Black Lives Matter, which demanded that the names of the officers be released and that charges against them be laid. The SIU has concluded that the officers involved used an appropriate degree of force.

Follow Rachel Browne on Twitter: @rp_browne

Photo via Flickr