Lawsuit filed after 63-year-old Colorado Springs man facing mental health crisis dies in custody
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - The family of a Colorado Springs man who died in police custody just filed a lawsuit against the Colorado Springs Police and Fire Department.
63-year-old Kevin Dizmang died while he face down on the dirt near Mount View Lane in Colorado Springs back in November 2022.
The officers and paramedics involved in his death have been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. But now Dizmang's family is taking their belief that he never should have died in their custody to federal court.
On November 15, 2022, Colorado Springs police, fire, and a mental health clinician were called out to help Kevin Dizmang, who was experiencing a mental health crisis.
He was in the middle of a busy street and was said to be throwing rocks at cars as they drove by. The officer and paramedic took the 63-year-old to the ground. A paramedic placed his arms and upper torso over Dizmang's back while the officer continued to struggle to handcuff him. After a few minutes, the 63-year-old was unresponsive even after they lifted him up.
The El Paso County coroner's office ruled Dizmang's death a homicide. The autopsy report says Dizmang died as a result of physical restraint and meth intoxication. It also notes he was obese, had COPD, and had a long history of mental health issues.
"They were there to help Mr. Dizmang, but they killed him," Harry Daniels, Attorney for Kevin Dizmang's family said. "His mental state or drugs, does it get a death sentence, a death warrant? No, it doesn't. It does not."
Today, his family filed a federal lawsuit and stood on the steps of Colorado Springs city hall claiming his death never should have happened.
"It's really unfortunate that we requested help and ended up in a homicide situation, makes us really, really feel like we should have never made a call for assistance. Um, yeah, that should've never happened," Kenda James, Dizmang's daughter said.
Colorado Springs Police and Fire say they cannot speak on pending litigation. Instead they referred KRDO13 Investigates to this statement issued last year:
Anytime a community member dies, we are saddened at the loss of life. We take these events seriously and, in this case, had the Deadly Force Investigation Team, led by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, investigate this event. They then sent the case to the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for review and determination of the reasonableness of the force that was used. This exceeds the requirement by Colorado law, but we believe it is best for transparency and honest review for our community.
All of our Community Response Team members are highly trained professionals, coming from diverse backgrounds with the goal of assisting our community members who are in crisis and need immediate intervention. The team is comprised of a Colorado Springs Police Department Officer, a Colorado Springs Fire Department Paramedic, and a Diversus Health Clinician. Unfortunately, even with all of the training and expertise on this CRT team, we can’t control every factor involved in an interaction with a community member such as the actions, underlying medical conditions and intoxication of the involved person prior to our involvement.
-- Colorado Springs Police and Fire
