PHILADELPHIA – A local woman has alleged that the Philadelphia Police Department violated its own policies when it arrested her late father two years ago and failed to subsequently administer medical aid, leading to his death while in custody.
The Estate of Antonio Almanzar Perez (through Administratrix Biany Moronta) filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on June 22 versus the City of Philadelphia.
“On June 22, 2021, Antonio Almanzar Perez, plaintiff’s decedent, was arrested in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Almanzar Perez was a 68-year-old man with a history of drug abuse. Almanzar Perez had one leg, the result of being hit by a bus a few years before and walked with crutches as a result. He was elderly beyond his years, obviously fragile and not a threat to anyone but himself,” the suit says.
“He was without identification, but his physical condition and appearance, if anything, should have cried out for special attention. He was taken to the Round House, the now-former police headquarters at 7th and Race Streets, where he was placed in a jail cell with a cellmate. At some point in the evening, he began vomiting profusely and moaning in pain.”
The suit adds the decedent’s cellmate reported yelling for guards for help for hours, because of his concern for Mr. Perez’s condition – but ultimately, no help arrived and the “vomiting and moans continued until at some point in the night Almanzar Perez died.”
“On June 23, 2021, when the cell was opened for its occupants to be taken to a preliminary arraignment, Antonio Almanzar Perez was found dead. An autopsy revealed a cause of death to be most likely multiple drug intoxication, which was known, or should have been known, by the arresting officers at the time of his arrest. Pursuant to Philadelphia Police Directive 7.8-1, every person taken into custody by the Philadelphia Police Custody is required to be given a ‘quick medical evaluation’ upon their arrest and a medical checklist completed by the officer. Detainees who appear to be under the influence of drugs are required to be placed in a holding cell, with inspection of them made every 10 minutes,” the suit states.
“Philadelphia Police Directive 5.6 was also applicable – it indicates that anyone intoxicated and in a ‘semi-conscious’ state, indicating ‘incompletely conscious, imperfectly aware or responsive (indicating the inability to clearly and effectively communicate),’ should be brought immediately to the hospital for a medical evaluation. Plaintiff’s decedent lost his life during the several hours of deliberate indifference by the Philadelphia Police Department while his cellmate was yelling for help, because Almanzar Perez was continuously vomiting and moaning in pain. His death was discovered by his family when his daughter, the administratrix bringing this suit, began placing missing posters throughout Kensington, as she had not heard from him, and the Police Department called her and asked her to identify his body.”
For counts of violating the decedent’s rights under the Fifth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, 42 U.S.C. Section 1988, survival and wrongful death, the plaintiff is seeking total damages in excess of $300,000, inclusive of punitive damages and in addition to costs of court and reasonable attorney’s fees.
The plaintiff is represented by Evan S. Shingles and Lionel Camillo Artom-Ginzburg of Shingles & Shingles, in Philadelphia.
The defendant has not yet obtained legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:23-cv-02407
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com