LOS ANGELES — Seven California Highway Patrol officers and a nurse have been charged in the 2020 death of a man who was held down and complained he couldn’t breathe, Los Angeles County’s district attorney said Wednesday.
The CHP sergeant and six officers are charged with one count each of involuntary manslaughter and assault under the color of authority in the death of Edward Bronstein, who had been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, District Attorney George Gascón said.
A registered nurse was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Bronstein was held down after initially refusing a blood draw, officials said.
The eight people charged were identified as Sgt. Michael Little; officers Dionisio Fiorella; Dustin Osmanson; Darren Parsons; Diego Romero; Justin Silva; and Marciel Terry; and registered nurse Arbi Baghalian.
Gascón called an 18-minute video of the incident, which was shown at a Wednesday news conference, “difficult to watch and hear as Mr. Bronstein pleads for his life.”
“Mr. Bronstein screams ‘I can’t breathe’ over and over and pleads for help while officers continue to restrain him,” Gascón said.
DUI traffic stop
Bronstein, of Burbank, was pulled over on Interstate 5 on March 31, 2020, on suspicion of driving under the influence, Gascón said.
At a CHP station in Altadena, in the Los Angeles area, Bronstein initially refused a blood draw and a judge issued a warrant authorizing his blood to be taken by a nurse, the CHP said.
The video, which a federal judge ordered released last year as part of a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by Bronstein’s family, shows an officer telling Bronstein that if he didn’t comply “you’re going face down on the mat, and we’re going to keep on going.”
As officers move to restrain him, Bronstein says “I’ll do it willingly” repeatedly and screams as several officers are holding him down. He is told “too late,” the video shows.
Bronstein screams and says, “I can’t breathe,”…
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