Charges dropped against Guatemalan farmworker in death of sheriff's officer during arrest
The case against Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, 19, prompted a nationwide petition for his freedom and drew celebrity attention.
March 4, 2024, 4:16 PM CST
By Suzanne Gamboa
A Guatemalan farmworker has been cleared of charges in the heart-attack death of a Florida sheriff's officer, a case that drew celebrity attention and prompted a nationwide petition for his freedom. NBC News reported on the case of 19-year-old Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, in December, after his attorney obtained and shared body camera video of the arrest.
On Friday, the state attorney in Florida's 7th Judicial Circuit said in a statement that dismissing charges against Aguilar Mendez was appropriate.
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Aguilar Mendez had been held since May 19, 2023, when he was arrested outside a Super 8 hotel in St. Augustine, Florida.
He was charged with contributing to the death of St. Johns County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Kunovich, who suffered a heart attack after struggling for several minutes, along with other officers, to take Aguilar Mendez into custody. Kunovich walked away when Aguilar Mendez was handcuffed on the ground. Minutes later he collapsed on a curb, according to documents released after the arrest.
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Video of the arrest, however, led Aguilar Mendez’s civil attorney, Phillip Arroyo, to assert that his client was a victim of police brutality and that the arrest never should have happened. Arroyo said body camera showed that his client, whose first language is Mam, an indigenous language of Guatemala, did not understand the commands of the officer.
More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/charges-dropped-guatemalan-farmworker-death-sheriffs-officer-arrest-rcna141681
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Earlier article:
Attorney says video disputes charges that farmworker caused officer’s fatal heart attack
Suzanne Gamboa
January 9, 2024·7 min read
7.2k
On May 19, outside a Super 8 hotel in Florida, Virgilio Aguilar Mendez held his cellphone as a sheriff’s officer pulled up and ordered him to stop. As shown on an officer’s body camera video shared with NBC News last week, the officer said he wanted to know why Aguilar didn’t stop when he first made the command. The 18-year-old farmworker from Guatemala apologized, gestured to his hotel, and said “eating,” “tienda” (store) and “drink.” He appeared confused.
The officer, Sgt. Michael Kunovich, wanted to know if Aguilar had any weapons and ordered him to turn around, the video shows. He grabbed Aguilar’s arm and tried to pat down his shorts pockets. Aguilar, who doesn’t speak English, tried to pull away. An intense struggle followed as Kunovich, and later two more sheriff’s officers, tried to handcuff Aguilar.
Much of the stop and arrest, which took place just outside of St. Augustine, was captured by officers’ body cameras. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has said it shows a “by the book, textbook” arrest of a suspect whose resistance to arrest led — according to the department — to Kunovich’s death from heart failure. The office wants Aguilar held accountable for Kunovich’s death, which occurred minutes after the arrest.
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In the videos, Aguilar can be heard screaming in pain when he is Tased multiple times and as officers tackle him, hit him with their knees in his torso, twist his arms, use what a deputy said was a “naked choke” hold and take other measures to subdue him.
Vergilio Aguilar Mendez, 18, (Phillip Arroyo)
More:
https://abcnews.go.com/International/new-details-emerge-teen-charged-manslaughter-florida-police/story?id=107561387