Authorities Tuesday publicly identified a 52-year-old East Coast resident who passed out while being detained by El Cajon police and died of unknown causes in a hospital 13 days later.
A 911 caller reported seeing a man later identified as Qui Ly of Portsmouth, Virginia, running in traffic and yelling for help in the area of Magnolia and West Chase avenues at about 6 a.m. on Jan. 4, according to the San Diego Police Department, which investigates in-custody deaths involving personnel with the El Cajon Police Department under terms of a countywide agreement designed to prevent actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
When ECPD officers arrived a short time later in the neighborhood northeast of Mount Helix, Ly “refused to follow their verbal commands” and instead laid himself down prone on the roadway, SDPD Lt. Lou Maggi said.
At that point the personnel — Sgt. James Juns and Officers Alma Benevidez, Ian Gilliom, Malala Sapini and Brian Valadez — handcuffed Ly, “applied soft restraints to his ankles” and called for an ambulance, according to Maggi. While paramedics were en route, Ly lost consciousness, the lieutenant said.
The officers tried in vain to revive Ly with CPR and, in case his condition was drug-related, the overdose-reversing medication naloxone, according to police. He was then hospitalized, “but his condition did not improve,” Maggi said.
On Jan. 17, medical staff notified the El Cajon Police Department that Ly had died. A ruling on his cause of death remains on hold pending completion of postmortem examinations.
“Detectives will be working with the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine if the use of force played any role in (Ly’s) death,” Maggi said.
Benevidez has been with the El Cajon Police Department for three years, Gilliom for 1 1/2 years, Juns for 24 years, Sapini for 2 1/2 years and Valadez for four years.