Family of man who died in police custody seeks $75 million in lawsuit against City of Annapolis
BALTIMORE -- The funeral program for Renardo Green talked about the Annapolis employee's "big heart" and said he will never be forgotten.
Now, Green's children and widow are calling for accountability after his death in police protective custody.
On Tuesday, they filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Annapolis and several first responders.
In the lawsuit, they allege that the first responders negligently restrained Green face down after being called to his home for a disturbance in June 2021.
The lawsuit is seeking more than 75 million dollars in compensation and retraining of police and paramedics to stop the practice.
"Because he was experiencing a medical emergency, they deliberately and senselessly strapped him to a stretcher on his face for at least 11 minutes," said attorney Malcolm Ruff, who represents several of Green's children.
According to the lawsuit, "The officers reportedly subdued Mr. Green by holding his ankles down and using two sets of handcuffs to place his hands behind his back."
He was first rolled onto his side and then face down and eventually placed on a stretcher.
As he was loaded into the ambulance, "Mr. Green was no longer yelling and one of the paramedics asked Mr. Green to turn his head to the side," one officer recalled, according to the lawsuit. "Mr. Green did not respond, so the paramedic turned his head."
The lawsuit noted that Annapolis police have since revised their policy to ban face-down restraints. Baltimore City already has a ban on restraint in the prone position.
"We're going to be introducing legislation in Annapolis this term to once and for all ban this practice statewide," said attorney Billy Murphy. "We believe this lawsuit will give the legislature the impetus it needs to get it done."
Maryland's medical examiner ruled the cause of death a homicide.
Civil rights activist Carl Snowden is demanding Anne Arundel County's state's attorney provide a public update on any whether charges will be filed and release an internal investigation by Annapolis police into Green's death.
"The chief medical examiner looked at the circumstances surrounding the death of him and determined that he was a victim," Snowden said. He also said Green's family should get an apology from the city.
The state's attorney's office told WJZ that "this is an open matter, and we will not be making any public comment."
A spokesperson for the city of Annapolis said they had not been formally served with the lawsuit and had no comment at this time.
Mayor Gavin Buckley previously said, "I watched the body camera footage of both encounters, and what I saw were first responders trying to help a family in crisis."