Moment hospital patient is put in a chokehold by four security guards and later ... trends now
The wife of a Colorado man who died after being thrown to the floor, put into a chokehold and restrained, in an incident that a witness described was like 'George Floyd' has accused officials of lying and covering up the horrific event that was caught on tape.
Mathew Haskel Jones, 36, was taken by ambulance to Pueblo's Centura St. Mary-Corwin Hospital in February 2021 for foot pain.
But when he arrived, Jones refused treatment and checked himself out of the emergency room against medical advice, the Denver Post reported.
Without a lift home Jones opted to wait in the hospital's lobby, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed Wednesday by his widow Dedra Jones.
An admissions representative of the hospital, told police at the time that Jones had been complaining that someone had given him 'something' and had been worried '[staff] were trying to kill him.'
Appearing agitated and sweaty, a police investigation found that Jones was then asked to leave the lobby but refused and allegedly proceeded to 'rip a phone out of the wall.'
Surveillance footage of the hotel lobby told a different story showing four hospital security tackling Jones to the ground, sitting on top of him and putting him into a chokehold.
WARNING: Graphic content
The horrific events which led to the death of Mathew Haskel Jones, 36, were caught on a surveillance video in the lobby of the Centura St. Mary-Corwin Hospital on February 10 2021
Jones died after being thrown to the floor, put into a chokehold and restrained, after witnesses claim he'd behaved erratic and agitated
Surveillance footage of the hotel lobby told a different story showing four hospital security tackling Jones to the ground, sitting on top of him and putting him into a chokehold
After Jones passed out, medical personnel performed CPR and re-admitted him to the emergency department
Jones went into a coma, never regained consciousness and died eight days later on Feb 18, 2021. His widow Dedra Jones is suing the hospital for lying and covering up the horrific event
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After an aggressively tussle with the security guards Jones can be seen pushed onto his stomach before the 36-year-old passes out.
A life support machine can be seen wheeled into the lobby to assist with a now passed out Jones before a rolling bed is brought in to move him.
Despite the protests of one nurse, who later told police she heard Jones say he 'couldn't breathe' the guards continued to restrain him.
She told police at the time that she had tried to stop the security guards by warning them that their actions looked 'a lot like the George Floyd incident, and we all know how that turned out,' according to the police investigation.
The nurse then added that one of the security guards responded that they knew what they were doing, according to a detective's affidavit.
After Jones passed out, medical personnel performed CPR and re-admitted him to the emergency department, but Jones went into a coma and never regained consciousness. He died eight days later on February 18, 2021.
El Paso County Coroner Leon Kelly ruled Jones' death as a homicide and found that he had died from anoxic brain injury, which occurs when the brain is deprived of oxygen, due to physical restraint.
The coroner also found that other factors contributed to his death, including morbid obesity, methamphetamine and probable cocaine intoxication, and an enlarged heart, according to the autopsy report.
The four security guards, Anthony Virant, Anthony Ruff, Drake Castro and Randy Vialpando were charged with negligent homicide in November 2021.
Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner dropped the charges in August after a new, unnamed witness said that there were 'nuances in the pathologist report' and Chostner felt there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction, The Pueblo Chieftain reported at the time.
The dismissed criminal case against the four men appears to have since been sealed and court records are no longer publicly available.
The four security guards, Anthony Virant, Anthony Ruff, Drake Castro (right) and Randy Vialpando (left) were charged with negligent homicide in November 2021
Pueblo County District Attorney Jeff Chostner dropped the charges in August saying he felt there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction
The dismissed criminal case against the four men who had been working as security at the Centura St. Mary-Corwin hospital appears to have since been sealed and court records are no longer publicly available
During the aggressive tussle one nurse witness claimed that Jones had said he 'couldn't breathe' and told the guards that their actions looked 'a lot like the George Floyd incident'
A Funeral service was held a month after the tragic events of February 10, on March 18, at Angelus Chapel for Jones who was survived by his wife Dedra and daughter Tea Montoya
'We are going to use the civil justice system to get the justice back that Mathew's family was denied through
