The parents of former NFL All-Pro running back Doug Martin are suing the city of Oakland and others in relation to their son’s death last year. According to the wrongful death suit, Martin died due to excessive use of force by members of the Oakland Police Department and delayed medical care.
The suit, obtained by USA Today, names the city of Oakland, California, multiple police officers, and an ambulance company as defendants.
In the suit, which was filed on June 23, Leslie and Douglas Martin said they called the police because Doug was experiencing a “mental health crisis” when officers, who were responding to a break-in call, had the former NFL player “face down while one or more officers pressed on his back.” The restraint, the lawsuit alleges, was one of the contributing factors to his death.
“The family is very much interested in finding out what happened to their son,” said attorney John Burris. “Unfortunately, the litigation is a mechanism to best get that done.”
An autopsy report from the Alameda County Coroner’s Office is awaiting results due to Martin’s family requesting extra testing. According to family attorney John Burris, he had a second autopsy conducted and the pathologist concluded that the former NFL player died of restraint asphyxiation.
As theGrio previously reported, Martin was met by officers responding to a break-in call a few houses down from where his parents reside. According to the police report, Martin and the officers engaged in a “brief struggle” where he was turned on his side and became unresponsive. He was later taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.
In the wrongful death lawsuit, Martin’s family alleges that paramedics from Flack, the ambulance company that arrived at the scene, came 15 minutes after the initial call and did not “promptly provide medical care.”
The Oakland Police Department said the investigation into Martin’s death remains ongoing and that they do not comment on pending litigation. In a little more than a decade, over 1,000 people in the United States have died after police subdued individuals with holds not meant to be lethal, including Tasers and body blows, according to an Associated Press study.
