Videos show Sacramento police efforts to subdue man, who later died, during medical emergency
Sacramento police officials on Thursday released details and video related to an incident that occurred nearly two months ago in which a man suffering an apparent medical emergency died several days after officers placed him handcuffs inside his home when he resisted treatment from paramedics.
The officers on Feb. 25 were called to the home of Reginald Damone Payne in the 5300 block of 25th Street in a portion of unincorporated Sacramento between Hollywood Park and North City Farms.
The Sacramento Fire Department told police that the 48-year-old man was uncooperative. After developing a plan, according to police, the officers entered the home and spotted Payne sitting on a couch in the living room. Police said Payne was making incoherent statements and moving erratically.
The actions of the officers and paramedics were captured on at least three body cameras, of which footage was released by the department. Police officials say they have remained in contact with Payne’s family and have given them an opportunity to view the video footage before it was released.
The police department in its release says that officers were informed on March 17 that Payne died March 3. Police detectives then launched an investigation into his death, the agency said.
Thursday’s release was the first public announcement about the incident, and the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office has listed his cause of death as “undetermined.”
Medics called for officers’ help
The Feb. 25 call came into dispatch for a man with abnormal behavior, and firefighters responded, Capt. Keith Wade, a Fire Department spokesman, told The Sacramento Bee.
One of the videos begins in the darkness outside the home, several blocks north of Fruitridge Road and 24th Street, when one of the officers walks up to the garage and speaks to a firefighter. The firefighter confirmed that man inside was large, and that’s why they called for police to help.
“He’s super agitated, swinging his arms and legs everywhere,” the firefighter told the officer.
The firefighter also told the officer that Payne did not appear to understand what they were telling him and advised that the officers should put on spit-masks, because Payne was salivating. The officer then grabbed a spit mask and waited for other officers to arrive.
“I just wanted to wait for somebody else being (that he’s) such a big boy,” the officer told a colleague who arrived at the home next. “I’ve never done this. Like, how do you, you just literally cuff ’em up and hand ’em over if we have to get to that point or what?”
The two officers discuss how they might have to handcuff the man if he continues flailing while they’re trying to get him under control. They also discuss how the officers can restrain him once he’s on a gurney, and that they can follow the directions of the firefighters since no crime has been committed.
When a third officer arrives, they talk about the man inside who they were told was “slobbering” and “low on blood sugar.” The third officer asked if restraints were needed, but that officer is told they’ll only need handcuffs for now.
When the officers enter the home, the videos show Payne on the couch. Payne is recorded moving erratically but not forcefully, making gutteral, unintelligible noises in an apparent state of distress.
The officers helped subdue Payne, who was black, by placing him on his stomach and cuffing his hands behind his back, so medics could provide treatment. Payne screamed as the officers held him down.
Police officials said the officers “continued to comfort” the man by rubbing his back and “reassuring him that they were there to help,” according to a news release. The medics began to treat Payne once he was controlled.
The videos show at least three officers holding Payne’s arms and holding him down near his shoulders, as a medic begins to work on Payne. It did not appear in the videos that the officers were holding Payne down with much force.
“You’re alright,” the officer told Payne as he screamed more. “Just checking on you making sure you’re OK, alright buddy?”
The officers appears to apply more force when Payne continues to struggle, the video shows. One of the officers rubbed Payne’s back as he yelled before sobbing.
“You’re alright,” the officer told Payne, who continued to make noises. “Just relax, relax.”
‘He’s already settled down’
About 14 minutes after the first officer arrived at the home, Payne stops making noises and moving, the videos show. A few seconds later, a medic can be seen in one video giving an injection into Payne’s shoulder.
The injection was administered in order to help with Payne’s low blood sugar, Wade said.
One officer is heard in the video saying “he’s feeling better already.”
“The problem is that takes about 20 minutes to kick in, so we’re gonna restrain him,” the medic said.
“He’s already settled down a little bit,” an officer says.
Shortly after, someone asked “Still beating, right? Someone else answers “Yeah.”
The officers then put Velcro-type restraints on Payne and remove the handcuffs, the videos show. They placed Payne on a gurney. One woman inside the home who had been speaking to the officers and firefighters asked about Payne.
“It takes like 25 to 45 minutes to start working,” the firefighter explained. “It’s a shot in the muscle instead of right in the vein, so that’s why we’re taking him. He’ll be right as rain when he comes home. ... We’ll take good care of him, I promise.”
The woman thanked the officers and the firefighters as Payne was wheeled out of the house on the gurney.
“SFD personnel checked his condition and provided an explanation as to why the individual’s condition appeared to change,” according to the news release.
Once Payne was in the ambulance, fire personnel tell the officers that Payne had stopped breathing, and medics began performing CPR on him, the police news release said.
What’s unknown is whether Payne had stopped breathing while in the home or inside the ambulance.
The medics began performing CPR on him in the ambulance, according to Wade and the police release. He was hospitalized and listed in critical condition. He remained at the hospital for several days before his death.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 3:59 PM.
