Federal lawsuit over death of Avoyelles man who died after police struggle dismissed
A federal lawsuit alleging excessive force filed by the brothers of an Avoyelles Parish man who died in 2017 after a struggle with police — a death ruled a homicide by a pathologist — has been dismissed.
Armando Frank, 42, died on Oct. 20, 2017, after officers with the Marksville Police Department and Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's Office took him into custody on a felony warrant.
His two brothers, Don Frank and Antonio Frank Sr. filed a federal lawsuit in July 2018 that alleged the officers used excessive force and acted intentionally.
It contends the officers did not provide help to Frank, despite his "obvious distress, including gasping and heavy breathing." It states nobody tried to improve his breathing until Acadian Ambulance paramedics arrived once Frank already was in a patrol unit, "long too late to save" him.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Senior Judge Dee Drell dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again with the court.
He ruled the officers did not use excessive force and said there was no evidence they intended to harm Frank.
"Frank's death was extremely tragic as no one believes an arrest should end in death, but there is simply no evidence before the court that either (Kenneth) Parnell, (Brandon) Spillman or (Alexander) Daniel acted intentionally," Drell wrote.
He did write that Frank continually ignored and resisted officers' repeated attempts to take him into custody.
Frank was sitting on his tractor in a side parking lot at Walmart in Marksville when an unidentified person alerted police to his location. The encounter was captured on Deputy Alexander Daniel's body camera.
Although it begins with pleasantries being exchanged, Frank refuses to get down from the tractor when Daniel tells him to do so.
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He also begins asking for information when told there's a warrant for his arrest. Both Daniel, on his left side, and a Marksville officer on the right, Kenneth Parnell, start telling him to get down.
"It's at the sheriff's office. We can discuss it when we get there," said Daniel when Frank asks about the warrant.
"Let's go see it," replies Frank, his legs propped on the steering wheel.
"We are going to see it. You're coming with me to see it," said Daniel.
But Frank didn't come down.
A third officer, Deputy Brandon Spillman, arrived and started to climb onto the tractor as the discussion became more heated. When Spillman grabbed Frank's arm and Frank tried to hit back, Parnell fired his shock device.
Frank was shocked three times, as well as put in several choke holds, and eventually leaned down from the seat on the left side of the tractor. After being dragged from the tractor, all the officers converged on him to handcuff him.
An officer is heard on the video saying Frank is "dead weight" as a group drags him to the patrol unit.
The autopsy, performed three days later by forensic pathologist Dr. Christopher Tape, noted the types of neck holds used on Frank and how his chest and abdomen were compressed.
Tape wrote that the video showed six minutes and 42 seconds of "respiratory compromise."
He wrote that Frank's obesity and heart condition were contributing factors to his death, but it wasn't the primary cause of death.
"Although this does represent significant natural disease, it should not be thought of as the primary cause of death as the decedent was alive (and well) prior to the police intervention and dead following, making the police intervention the likely intervening factor that led to his death."
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Judge dismisses lawsuit over death of Avoyelles man that was ruled homicide
