Tiverton Man Died of Cardiac Arrest While in Police Custody
The state Department of Health releases new information about the death of Craig Raposa, a Tiverton man who died on Feb. 3, 2012.
The state Department of Health says "cardiopulmonary arrest," also known as cardiac arrest, resulted in the death of former Portsmouth High School student Craig Raposa.
This is the first time a cause of death has been released for the Tiverton man, who died during policy custody on Feb. 3, 2012.
The cause of death was determined to be "cardiopulmonary arrest during prone restraint following physical altercation due to schizophrenia and obesity with cardiomegaly," wrote Dara Chadwick, spokesperson for the Department of Health, in an e-mail Thursday.
On Wednesday, the Attorney General's Office released the findings of a grand jury's review into the death of Raposa.
The grand jury found that the actions by Portsmouth police officers were lawful and legally justified.
Raposa, 25, died following a struggle with Portsmouth police, in which pepper spray was used. His mother, Brenda Raposa of Portsmouth, blamed authorities for the death of her son, who suffered from a mental illness.
"Although we were confident that our officers had conducted themselves appropriately, and while we are pleased with the grand jury’s findings, we are nevertheless sorrowed by the fact that a human life was lost," stated acting Portsmouth Police Chief Jeffrey R. Furtado in a statement on Wednesday.
"It is truly unfortunate that despite our best efforts, a tragedy still occurred."
HerpyDerpy
10:07 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
The cops should at least be charged with manslaughter. They are the ones that attacked.
Portsmouthproud
10:17 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
No way! It was a sad event that happened. Our town has wonderful cops who work very hard protecting us!
HerpyDerpy
10:51 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
Sad, yes. But who were they 'protecting' when they attacked Mr. Raposa?
Portsmouthproud
11:20 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
They didn't cause him to have a heart attack. They went there to protect his mom and then him.
The Shill
9:48 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
Directly inhaling pepper spray can also lead to headaches and an increased risk of heart attack.
So yes they did cause him to have a heart attack.
anonymous401
3:45 am on Monday, January 28, 2013
Our town has horrible cops they Have Physically abused teenagers and adults in front of me Ive seen them pepper spray someone they were looking for even though he put his hand up and i said im done, right in his face OH and idk why nobody remembers but what about when they stole the guns from the evidence locker and what about them covering up the Domestics abuse that goes on at some of there houses I saw one of the police officers wife at clements with the black eye he gave her and then somehow never got in trouble hmmmm sounds like the stereotypical small town cop to me so if you have never personally dealt with them for anything but a ticket dont act like you know what your talking about my neighbor had the cops search his house they found 36 grams of marijuana they put 20 in the pocket and charged him with 16!!! ok that must be ok to you too right?
Rhode Islander
2:05 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
Hello? My understanding of this story is that his mother called the police to her home that day to have him removed. It's sad that he suffered from a mental illness, but quite obviously had an unknown physical problem..healthy 25 year old men don't have heart attacks. Often times, drugs used to treat mental issues can cause serious side effects. In any case, the Portsmouth police did nothing wrong. Case closed.