Police ID Officers in Man’s Choking Death
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San Diego Police on Tuesday identified the four officers involved in the choking death of a 31-year-old man at an Old Town hotel who had attempted to check himself into a psychiatric hospital earlier in the day.
Police said Officers Todd Wilkinson, 30; Cindy Morrison, 28; Denise Clagett, 31, and T. Yvonne Howard, 35, a reserve sergeant, all participated in subduing Edgar Paris, who lived with his father in the 2900 block of Chatsworth Boulevard.
Paris died of an apparent heart attack Monday when Wilkinson tried to restrain him with a carotid restraint hold, which cuts off circulation to arteries in the neck. The results of Paris’ autopsy are not yet known.
According to police, Paris had tried to check into the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital, but walked out before doctors could meet with him. He went to the nearby Old Town Budget Inn, where he barricaded himself naked in a vacant room.
A hospital security guard flagged the officers down after Paris left the hospital and reported that Paris had been acting strangely. They found Paris sitting naked on a toilet “frothing at the mouth,” police said.
Hospital spokesman Patrick Stalnaker said Paris was not detained by doctors because he came in voluntarily and was free to leave.
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