CBS Los Angeles reports that video footage has surfaced surrounding a California suspected DUI case that has gotten national attention.
The newly released video shows California Highway Patrol officers arresting 38-year-old Edward Bronstein on March 31, 2020. When Bronstein refused to give a blood sample, as many as six officers applied their full body weight onto Bronstein to draw his blood forcibly. Bronstein lost consciousness in the incident.
After taking the sample, the CHP officers can be seen sitting him back up and slapping him in an attempt to revive him. Approximately 14 minutes after the incident. Bronstein later died while in CHP custody.
A member of the Bronstein family told reporters that Edward resisted due to a fear of needles.
An autopsy found that Bronstein had methamphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol in his system at the time of his death. Bronstein’s surviving family members and their attorneys say that they should have turned him on his side to perform the blood draw.
A judge ordered the release of the video footage on Tuesday.
“What these officers did was reprehensible,” Attorney Luis Carillo said during the press conference.
Carillo and Bronstein’s family believe that Edward died from suffocation while being held down by officers. Now they hope that Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon’s office will move to arrest and prosecute the CHP officers who they believe are responsible for Bronstein’s death.
A spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol’s Southern Division said that because there is pending litigation, the law enforcement agency cannot comment on the case.
