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Five NC Officers Resign After Leaving Man Who Overdosed Unattended While He Suffered Seizure

Police say they saw Harold Easter ingest the cocaine as they stood outside his SUV on January 23. Easter, 41, had just been pulled over in Charlotte, N.C. after officers saw what appeared to be a drug deal. Suggested Reading R. Kelly’s Alleged ‘Hostage’ Finally Breaks Her Silence, and the Tea is Piping Hot! 14…

Police say they saw Harold Easter ingest the cocaine as they stood outside his SUV on January 23. Easter, 41, had just been pulled over in Charlotte, N.C. after officers saw what appeared to be a drug deal.

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โ€œDonโ€™t eat it! Heโ€™s eating it,โ€ one Charlotte-Mecklenberg cops says as he reaches inside the car window and tugs on Easterโ€™s red hooded sweatshirt. โ€œHands up.โ€

Officers took Easter into custody but didnโ€™t get him any medical assistance. Instead, according to newly-released body camera and surveillance footage from the CMPD, Easter was tossed into an interrogation room for about 45 minutes, during which he was left alone for long stretches of time.

As CNN reports, Easter yelled for help repeatedly, and began convulsing on the table, and later on the floor of the room. While he was left unattended for a full 37 minutes, Easter had a seizure that caused him to collapse on the floor. He was seizing for seven minutes before officers finally got to him.

He died three days later.

CMPD Police Chief Johnny Jennings announced Thursday that the officers involved in Easterโ€™s arrest have all resigned, citing violations of CMPD protocol at the time, which required officers to check in on suspects every 15 minutes. In February, that policy changed, now requiring police to โ€œmaintain continuous observationโ€ of the people they detain.

Jennings also faulted the officers for knowing Easter had ingested a large amount of cocaine, but not immediately calling a medic.

โ€œI donโ€™t believe these officers had malicious intent. But they did make a bad decision, and they didnโ€™t follow policy,โ€ Jennings said on Thursday. โ€œSo those bad decisions have consequences. Especially when those decisions have contributed to the loss of a life, a life that we had the responsibility to protect.โ€

WBTV showed portions of the video, noting that it is โ€œheart-wrenchingโ€ and difficult to watch.

Throughout his time alone in the interview room, Easter talked to himself.

โ€œI said I had to pee. I needed some water,โ€ Easter said about five minutes after entering the room. โ€œI need some water.โ€

โ€œIโ€™m getting dehydrated,โ€ Easter said a few minutes later, still alone, โ€œSo if I die in here, everybody know what I (inaudible).โ€

โ€œBut yโ€™all gonna let me die in here,โ€ Easter said shortly after.

While the five officers are off the CMPD force, they will not be facing criminal charges. In a letter written in September to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Mecklenberg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said his office could not have proved that Easter would have survived had he gotten adequate, immediate medical care.

Easter was a father of four. An attorney for his family says his family watched the footage of him screaming for help and convulsing in pain as he waited in the interrogation room.

โ€œHeโ€™s unbelievable...He took his kids to daycare and preschool and school every day, oftentimes staying the day with them and helping out at the school,โ€ attorney Alex Heroy told CNN. โ€œFamily meant everything.โ€

โ€œItโ€™s been extremely heartbreaking to me to see the impact this has had on the Easter family,โ€ Chief Jennings said, according to WBTV. โ€œTheyโ€™re good people. Something they should not have had to endure and live through. I do pray they find comfort in knowing that the police department did what we had to do to hold these officers accountable.โ€

Witnessing what happened to Easter eight months ago was harrowing for his mother in particular, said Heroy.

โ€œShe cried out the whole time for her son.โ€

Straight From The Root

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