Inmate’s death during restraint by Las Vegas police ruled homicide

The Clark County coroner’s office ruled that a 36-year-old man’s March death at the county jail was a homicide resulting from the victim being restrained by corrections officers.

Nicholas Farah was put into a restraint chair, intended to control uncooperative prisoners, by four Metropolitan Police Department officers at the Clark County Detention Center on March 31. The officers held Farah’s head to his knees for about 75 seconds while they exchanged sets of handcuffs at the jail entrance, Clark County Assistant Sheriff Charles Hank said at a news conference in April.

The officers returned Farah to an upright position after they replaced the handcuffs. But after he was strapped into the chair, a medical staffer noticed that he wasn’t moving, according to video footage released in April.

The coroner’s office on Thursday said Farah’s cause of death was asphyxia during restraining procedures, with other significant conditions listed as methamphetamine intoxication and obesity.

Farah, of Appleton, Wisconsin, died at University Medical Center the night he was restrained, the coroner’s office said.

His younger brother, Eric Farah, of Chandler, Arizona, said he learned of the coroner’s ruling when contacted by the Review-Journal on Thursday afternoon.

He said the coroner’s findings were “very concerning,” though he wanted more time to process the ruling before commenting further

“It’s a lot to take in,” Eric Farah said.

The 33-year-old said he remembers his brother as a loving father of two girls.

“(He was) a very gentle, kind person that would be willing to do anything for anyone,” Eric Farah said.

In an emailed statement sent later Thursday night, Eric Farah said it was “a shame something like this could occur” and that he hopes his brother’s death “brings light to policies/ procedures on how people are treated.”

“This is a very difficult time for the family and his beautiful daughters that he loved very much,” he said in the email. “We’ve been very anxious for answers and hope to fully discover the situation.”

A GoFundMe page appears to have been created April 5 in honor of Nicholas Farah; it described him as an “amazing guy who had a heart of gold.”

The page said his two daughters were “his pride and joy.” He loved fishing, taking his children hiking and making jewelry, the website said.

As of Thursday, the website had raised more than $2,185 for an educational fund for Nicholas Farah’s daughters.

Video of the restraint

Nicholas Farah was arrested after police were called about 8:15 p.m. March 31 to a La Quinta motel at 4975 S. Valley View Blvd., near Tropicana Avenue. Hotel management had requested that Farah be removed from the property because he was acting strangely, repeatedly calling cabs and then refusing service when they arrived, Hank said in April.

If he had survived, he would have faced charges of trespassing, obstructing an officer and resisting arrest.

He was arrested at the hotel and became “agitated” while police tried putting him into a patrol car to bring him to jail, Hank said.

Officers requested a “code 5,” requiring jail staff to meet officers at an entrance to help bring uncooperative people into the facility.

Farah “once again became combative” inside the jail, prompting corrections officers to sit him in a restraint chair, Hank said.

Metro released hand-held and stationary video of officers’ efforts to restrain Farah inside the jail. Metro policy prohibits officers from activating body cameras inside the jail.

“Waiting for medical to come check him out because he’s really hyped up,” a sergeant said, narrating the hand-held video. “Wouldn’t give any information to patrol.”

Farah, appearing distressed, looked over toward the camera before officers pushed his head down toward his knees, the video showed. A few shouts could be heard for the first dozen seconds before he went quiet. Farah didn’t appear to move once officers sat him back up.

Police continued to fasten him to the chair for several more seconds until they finished and turned the chair around, stationary camera footage showed. A medical staffer standing nearby then noticed he wasn’t breathing, and officers worked to remove him from the chair.

Sgts. Samuel Mendoza and Richard Newman and officers Aaron Mosley and Jeremy Stewart have been placed on administrative leave while police investigate Farah’s death, police said in April. Metro is conducting internal criminal and administrative investigations into his death, as is typical with in-custody deaths.

When asked for comment Thursday afternoon, Metro spokesman Larry Hadfield said in an email that “the incident remains under investigation.”

Previous in-custody deaths

Last year, Metro agreed to pay $363,000 to the family of a man who died after a struggle with county jail officers in 2013. Luis Solano, 38, died at University Medical Center more than a week after a three-minute struggle with corrections officers at the detention center.

The coroner’s office also ruled his death a homicide, due to complications of “positional asphyxia” because of police restraint procedures.

Solano’s daughter and widow, who was pregnant at the time, filed the lawsuit a few months after the man’s death. They accused Metro officers of beating and suffocating Solano after they misinterpreted his reaction to a seizure.

Farah’s death in March came about a month after Roy Scott, 65, died in Metro custody while officers attempted to cuff him and pat him down for weapons outside his apartment. The coroner’s office ruled Scott’s death was accidental, due to methamphetamine intoxication; other significant conditions included paranoid schizophrenia and hypertensive and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.

Review-Journal staff writer Mike Shoro contributed to this report.