Las Vegas Now2 Men Die in Police Custody This Week

2 Men Die in Police Custody This Week

Las Vegas police detectives are investigating several of their own officers after two in-custody deaths in the last four days. The suspects who died were both restrained by police officers right before they stopped breathing.

Eight officers and one sergeant are on paid administrative leave after these incidents. Metro says they are investigating to make sure proper procedure was followed in both cases.

The first incident happened outside of this apartment complex on north 14th Street on Sunday evening. Police say they got a call that two men were in a fight involving a knife. When police arrived they say they were able to subdue the suspect, 47-year-old Daniel Morantes. They attempted to pat him down to check for a weapon and that's when police say he started acting erratically forcing officers to subdue him.

"Basically hug him. Put him in a bear hug and they went to the ground. There were several officers there so they were each immediately able to take and arm and leg, subdue him and get his hand behind his back -- get him handcuffed and then sit him back up again," said Metro Capt. Randy Montandon.

Police say the second man died Wednesday evening after getting a call from a social worker needing assistance. Officers were dispatched to the area of Tropicana and Buffalo to subdue a man under the state's supervision who had stopped taking his medication.

Police say the man resisted them violently when they tried to take him into custody. During the struggle, police say an officer applied what's called a lateral vascular neck restraint in order to subdue the subject. According to police, the neck restraint slows the blood flow to the brain causing a suspect to go limp.

Shortly after, the man stopped breathing. He was transported to a nearby hospital where he later died.

"This individual was extremely large -- well over 300 pounds. The officers had to use multiple sets of handcuffs to be able to get long enough handcuff chain where he was able to be restrained," said Capt. Montandon.

The name of that second individual has not been released. He was in his early 30's. Police say they will continue to investigate. The Clark County Coroner is seeing if any drugs, alcohol or underlying medical condition played a role.