FCPD: Alexandria man died of overdose while in police custody; involved officers back to full active duty
· By Angela Woolsey/Fairfax County Times
Nov 30, 2018 Updated Nov 30, 2018
The death of an Alexandria resident who died while in police custody in June was the result of a fatal opioid overdose, the Fairfax County Police Department says.
Christopher Paul, 31, died at a local hospital on June 26 after public safety personnel responded to an overdose call at his house in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County that afternoon.
The six FCPD officers who were on the scene were initially placed on administrative leave pending criminal and administrative investigations.
However, Fairfax County’s Office of the Commonwealth Attorney has since determined that the physical force used by the police officers was necessary and did not contribute to Paul’s death, according to Fairfax County Police Chief Edwin Roessler Jr., who provided the update in a press conference on Wednesday.
“This event is an example of the opioid epidemic, which is ravaging our nation and our county unfortunately,” Roessler said. “My prayers and the prayers of all the dedicated police officers and firefighters continue for the family and community members impacted by the tragic loss of life of this young man due to a fatal opioid overdose.”
Emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call concerning a possible overdose in the 4300 block of Mission Court in Alexandria at 4:35 p.m. on June 26.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department personnel were dispatched to the scene at 4:36 p.m., and police went out three minutes later, arriving on the scene at 4:47 p.m.
According to Fairfax County police, Paul’s family members evacuated the home at the time that the 9-1-1 call went out, but indications that the scene was unstable prompted fire and rescue personnel to set up in a nearby area outside until the FCPD could secure the house.
The police who responded to the overdose call primarily came from the Franconia District Station, including a first-line supervisor from the station, but one officer from the Mount Vernon District Station also joined to provide assistance.
The Mount Vernon station was one of three district stations involved in the body-worn camera pilot project that was in progress at the FCPD at the time, so the officer from that station who was on the scene captured video footage of the incident with Paul.
Roessler released a redacted version of the body camera footage during the press conference on Nov. 28. Individuals’ faces are blurred out in the video, and a portion was also removed for privacy reasons since Paul is not wearing any clothes, Roessler says.
“Out of decency and respect to the family, who have had an opportunity to view this video and correspond with me verbally, I am only providing the community certain segments of the video for that decency factor and also to protect HIPPA issues and other medical items,” the police chief said.
Roessler told media that Paul’s family viewed the redacted video through a proxy, but he intends to provide them with an un-redacted version once the FCPD’s major crimes bureau completes its investigation, which remains active.
The body camera footage shows the Mount Vernon District Station officer and another police officer entering a debris-strewn house to find a man moving around in what appears to be a living room.
The officers walk over to the man, who seems to be crouched on the floor. The police pin him facedown onto the floor, and one of the officers takes out handcuffs while holding the man’s arm behind his back.
The officer wearing the body-worn camera appears to have an electronic control weapon, or taser, pressed to the man’s lower back, but Roessler says the device was never actually deployed.
The redacted video encompasses a total timeframe of four minutes and 25 seconds, concluding with the officers declaring the scene secured and calling in the fire and rescue personnel waiting outside.
According to the FCPD’s initial report of the incident, Paul became unresponsive while he was being assessed by fire and rescue staff, and after being treated by medics, he was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Three of the six police officers at the scene were certified in crisis intervention team training, but none of them had naloxone, a medication that can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, according to Roessler, who says that the FCPD has 387 officers equipped with naloxone.
Fire and rescue personnel administered naloxone in this particular incident, Fairfax County Deputy Fire Chief Jason Jenkins says.
“What the video depicts is our training to value life,” Roessler said. “It isolates the event. It contains it. They’re trying to verbally negotiate, and there was an opportunity when the young man fell and got wedged on the floor with all the debris to come in and safely secure him so he wouldn’t harm himself or anyone else…Our training worked here. Unfortunately, opioids killed him.”
