Cops won’t be criminally charged in police custody death of Fil-Am

Filipino American U.S. Navy veteran Angelo Quinto was having a mental episode when he died while police held him on the ground and kneeled on his neck and shoulder. SCREENGRAB

The four officers involved in the death of a Filipino American U.S. Navy veteran in Antioch, California while he was in police custody will not face criminal charges, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office announced.

The family of Angelo Quinto expressed disappointment and outrage at the DA’s conclusion that the police officers’ method of restraining Quinto was “objectively reasonable” and not excessive force, according to CBS News.

On December 23, 2020, Quinto’s sister called 911, saying Quinto was having a mental episode and threatening their mother. Family members said he did not resist the police officers when they arrived, disputing the officers’ claim that he was uncooperative.

Quinto’s mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins, said the officers should have let Angelo sit down after they handcuffed him, instead of laying him face down and kneeling on his shoulder and neck, preventing him from breathing.

She accused the four officers Arturo Becerra, James Perkinson, Daniel Hopwood and Nicholas Shipilov of covering up the facts as they were not wearing body cameras.

The Quintos have filed a federal wrongful death civil lawsuit against the police department. They will ask State Attorney General Rob Bonta to re-examine the criminal case.

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