The family of former NFL star Doug Martin have alleged that excessive force by police and delayed medical care led to their son’s tragic death last year.
In a wrongful death lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, parents Leslie and Douglas Martin said the 36-year-old was having a mental health crisis back in October, when responding Oakland police held him ‘face down’ while ‘officers pressed on his back’.
The bombshell lawsuit alleges that it was this restraint which played a ‘substantial factor’ in his death, as well as a delayed response from FALCK NORCAL paramedics.
The tragedy unfolded after Leslie called 911 out of concern for her 36-year-old son, noting he was acting strangely and required medical attention.
Martin fled before units arrived, later seeking refuge inside a neighbor’s home where police eventually located him following separate reports of a break-in.
An Oakland police officer found him in the basement, according to the lawsuit.
The family of former NFL star Doug Martin have alleged that excessive force by police and delayed medical care led to their son’s tragic death last year
Police bodycam footage and video from mounted surveillance cameras released in March showed the former NFL star breaking through a fence at a residence in Oakland Hills
The suit then alleges that Martin was restrained facedown by police, as one or more officers proceeded to press down on his back, before turning him on his side.
Martin was unresponsive at that point but, the lawsuit alleges that, officers believed he was ‘sleeping’ or ‘pretending’ to be asleep.
Eventually, an officer requested medical assistance at the scene and, according to the lawsuit, paramedics arrived over 15 minutes after the call was made – and that medical attention wasn’t immediately given to Martin.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Oakland Police Department for comment.
Back in March, the Oakland Police Department released bodycam footage and 911 calls relating to the incident, where they were heard calling Martin by his name.
The bodycam footage and video from mounted surveillance cameras showed the ex-NFL star breaking through a fence at a residence in Oakland Hills.
Martin was heard yelling as police approached and became even angrier while resisting arrest in the clip, first published by TMZ and NBC Bay Area.
At one point, he was seen running into a back yard and breaking a window. Martin was ultimately arrested and handcuffed in a home gym towards the end of the clip.
Two months before the devastating incident, the San Francisco Chronicle claims that Martin jumped out the window of his second-floor bedroom and punched the side of the rehab center in a serious mental-health episode.
The ex-NFL star, pictured at the league’s Honors awards in 2016, died while in police custody
Martin’s tragic mental health struggles were revealed by his family days after his passing
The 2015 All-Pro reportedly checked into Tranquility Rehab Center – a state-licensed private facility in Castro Valley – back in August and tested positive for cocaine and methamphetamine upon arrival, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. He is also said to have been in possession of fentanyl and a hunting knife.
He twice left the rehab center without permission in the first 48 hours of being there, the sheriff’s office report claims, before testing positive for cocaine when he checked in again on August 12.
One day later, as a clinical supervisor pulled up to the center, she alleges that she found Martin dancing with blood on his hands and face in the front driveway after a psychotic episode.
The supervisor suspected that he had jumped out the window of his bedroom, before she eventually found that his bedroom door was ‘barricaded’. After kicking it open she could see that Martin’s window was open with the screen pushed out.
Two police deputies are then reported to have showed up, with the ex-NFL player seeming ‘extremely paranoid’ and asking ‘if everything was going to be ok.’
After suggesting that he was armed, and deputies asked him to explain, he then stood up before they grabbed his wrists and tried to handcuff him, only for Martin to pull away and slap one of their hands. One officer allegedly punched him twice, in the nose and in the mouth.
Martin is said to have screamed ‘No!’ and grabbed his wrist, before a scuffle ensued between the two of them and some paramedics at the scene. After falling to the ground he reportedly kicked the deputy in the legs repeatedly before being pinned down and handcuffed.
Officers allegedly found three small bags of cocaine in his pocket and a 12-inch chef’s knife in his backpack. They also retrieved a $50 bill coated in white powder in a nearby fountain.
