The Multnomah District Attorney’s office will convene a grand jury over an in-custody death involving three Portland Police officers in the Kenton neighborhood last month.
Portland police were called to a welfare check on June 27, for a man who was reportedly flooding his North Portland apartment with water and hanging knives out of the apartment window.
Body camera footage from the incident shows 52-year-old Damon Lamarr Johnson inside his disarrayed apartment and experiencing an apparent mental health crisis when officers arrived at his door.
Johnson — who was unarmed — can be heard in the footage asking officers, “do you think I’m gonna die?” Officers responded by asking him to come out of the unit to talk with them, Johnson remained inside.
After a few minutes, the three officers entered the flooded apartment and attempted to restrain Johnson.
After a brief struggle, officers detained Johnson, holding him on his stomach face down for minutes while he screamed. Two officers held Johnson down while the third addressed items burning on the stove.
Moments later, officers realized Johnson was unconscious and barely breathing, and called in paramedics.
The footage shows officers initially refused to remove the handcuffs from the unconscious Johnson, delaying paramedics’ CPR efforts for several minutes. The officers then agreed to remove Johnson from the handcuffs and allow paramedics to begin lifesaving measures.
Johnson was taken to a nearby hospital where he died.
In a statement to OPB, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez called Johnson’s death “a tragedy for all involved.”
“This is an incalculable loss for Mr. Johnson’s family, friends and the community as a whole,” Vasquez said. “It is critical that we understand how and why the situation developed such that a death resulted.”
The three officers involved have been on paid administrative leave since the incident.
“Just want to recognize that tragedy for that gentleman, for his family, for the impact that has on our members, on our first responders,” Portland Police Chief Bob Day said at a June 28 press conference. “Certainly never the intended outcome when we step into these moments of crisis with individuals trying to find resolutions and we need to allow that [investigation] to run its course.”
The restraint method used in Johnson’s case has come under scrutiny in recent years after numerous other deaths have been linked to holding people in “prone position.”
While Johnson’s cause of death remains under investigation, prone restraint has been linked to positional asphyxia and cardiac arrest.
Many police departments across the country have banned the use of prone restraint. Though the restraint tactic is not banned according to PPB policy, officers are instructed to “when feasible, ensure restrained persons are in a standing, seated, or recovery position (lying on their side).”
When questioned in a July 11 press conference on why Johnson was held in a prolonged prone position, Chief Day said part of the investigation would look at why Johnson wasn’t placed in recovery position after being detained.
Portland Copwatch, a volunteer organization that advocates for police accountability, denounced the incident in a statement sent to Portland Mayor Keith Wilson on July 16.
“Damon Lamarr Johnson didn’t have to die and shouldn’t have died that night,” the letter reads. “Mr. Johnson needed help and the other residents needed help, so the police were called. The Portland Police Bureau did not help Mr. Johnson that night.”
A spokesperson from the DA’s office said they would set a date for the grand jury once they review the evidence.
A liaison officer with the Portland Police Bureau watches people at a rally organized by the Proud Boys in Portland, Ore., Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
