daniel prude

Report: Rochester Police Internal Probe of Prude Death Done

Seven officers were suspended. A grand jury declined to indict any of them in February

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The Rochester Police Department has completed its internal investigation into the death of a Black man detained by officers on a city street but has yet to make the results public, local media reported.

The findings were being reviewed by Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan’s command staff, WROC reported Friday.

Daniel Prude, 41, died in March 2020, a week after several officers held him against the pavement until he stopped breathing after he bolted from his brother's home and shed his clothes during an apparent mental health episode.

Body camera video released six months later showing Prude naked and with a mesh spit hood over his head sparked nightly protests in the western New York city.

Seven officers were suspended. A grand jury declined to indict any of them in February. Lawyers for the police said the officers were strictly following their training.

The county medical examiner listed Prude's manner of death as homicide caused by “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint” and cited the drug PCP as a contributing factor.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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