‘He Can't Breathe!': People Call 911 to Record Cops Allegedly Choking Guy on Roadside

Following the death of George Floyd in 2020, officials across the country moved to ban the employment of carotid restraints — the sort of restraint that always renders an individual unconscious by restricting the flow of blood to the brain by compressing the edges of the neck where the carotid arteries are located. In California, the practice was banned statewide.

“At the tip of the day, the carotid hold that literally is intended to prevent people’s blood from flowing into their brain – that has no place from now on in 21st-century practices,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in June.

“LAPD banned the employment of the chokehold, if you'll, and limited it to only deadly force situations,” former L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell told local media last year.

Despite the large pushback against the harmful practice, a video uploaded to Twitter in the week shows cops don't have any problem disregarding the policy and applying the chokehold.

On March 30, police received a call about an alleged package theft and around 6:20 p.m., officers spotted a person walking down Danielson St. holding a package. the person fit the outline of the alleged thief and was detained by two L. A. County Sheriff’s deputies.

The man immediately admitted to deputies that the package was indeed not his and he would later be identified by a postal worker.

“That’s a clue,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said. “The deputies attempted to detain the person regarding a theft investigation, which appears like a decent idea, right?”

According to police, while they were detaining the person, he became uncooperative, and that they escalated force to realize control of things.

“The man became uncooperative and a use of force occurred,” LASD said.

During the escalation of force, two witnesses were driving by and stopped to film it. What they witnessed they found so shocking they really called 911 to report it.

In the video, we are able to see one deputy apply the chokehold while the opposite punch him in his face repeatedly.

“Tell him to prevent, tell him to prevent, I would like him to prevent. He can’t breathe,” the anonymous witness is often heard saying within the video.

As the witnesses tell the 911 dispatcher their location, just before the video ends, the deputies are seen holding the person down and he doesn't appear to be moving. The video then ends.

After the video began circulating on Twitter, the sheriff’s office issued a press release.

“Santa Clarita Sheriff’s Station is alert to a video circulating on social media,” said station officials. “A use of force investigation is currently ongoing.”

According to bystanders, the person was transported in an ambulance to a neighborhood hospital. The sheriff’s department reported that the suspect, who wasn't named, suffered moderate injuries but didn't require hospitalization.

After the suspect was medically cleared, he was booked at Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station for robbery and assault on a law officer, per the statement.

After the video began to travel viral, police would later claim that the person ‘simulated a handgun’ — a convenient move in an endeavor to justify the chokehold.