Chilling video footage shows the moment a 41 year-old suspect fatally overdoses in police custody after he ingested a vast amount of cocaine while being detained during a traffic stop. The suspect, who has since been identified as Harold Easter, “was alone and crying out for help before collapsing,” according to CNN.

Police performed a traffic stop on Easter on January 23, with officers believing that he was engaging in a drug deal. During this stop, easter somehow managed to ingest a large amount of crack cocaine as officers found that he was in possession of both cocaine and marijuana.

Bodycam footage shows a cop pulling up behind easter’s car and ordering him to stop eating the drugs as he drew his gun.

“Don’t eat it!” the officer can be heard shouting. “He’s eating it. Hands up!”

Easter proceeded to get out of his car and he was arrested without incident. Police took Easter to the headquarters of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, where he was left alone in an interview room for 45 minutes. He asked for water at one point, and it was given to him minutes later.

However, things took a turn for the worse about twenty minutes later, when Easter began seizing, and he quickly collapsed from there. As he visibly shakes before falling to the ground, Easter screams, “You think I want to die?”

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department released at least 17 videos last week in the hopes of giving the public some context of Easter’s arrest and subsequent overdose. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Johnny Jennings admitted that officers violated protocol by failing to check on Easter every fifteen minutes.

“I don’t believe these officers had malicious intent,” Jennings said. “But they did make a bad decision, and they didn’t follow policy. So those bad decisions have consequences. Especially when those decisions have contributed to the loss of a life, a life that we had the responsibility to protect.”

He went on to say that at least five officers who were involved in the incident resigned after an internal investigation into the incident. Mecklenburg County’s District Attorney Spencer Merriweather has since said that the cops who were involved will not be charged.

Merriweather sent a letter to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation saying that he was unable to “prove that Mr. Easter, after having voluntarily eaten a large amount of crack cocaine, would have lived had he received immediate medical attention.”

“In fact, none of the medical experts consulted about the evidence in this matter would be able to testify to a degree of medical certainty that Mr. Easter would have lived after having ingested that amount of cocaine, even if officers had called for medical attention at the time of the initial traffic stop,” Merriweather continued.

Alex Heroy, a lawyer for Easter’s family, told reporters that the 41 year-old’s mother “cried out the whole time for her son” while watching the police footage. He described Easter as dedicated father to which “family meant everything.”

“He’s unbelievable,” Heroy said. “He took his kids to daycare and preschool and school every day, oftentimes staying the day with them and helping out at the school. Family meant everything.”

Easter’s family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

This piece was written by James Samson on October 5, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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