In the spring, a man dies during a police operation in downtown Mannheim. Now the case comes before the court: The officials are accused of bodily harm resulting in death. The burden of proof against the police officers is heavy.
After a deadly police operation in Mannheim, the public prosecutor's office brought charges against two police officers. She accuses a police commissioner of causing bodily harm in office resulting in death and attempting dangerous bodily harm in office. A police chief is accused of negligent homicide by omission.
On May 2nd of this year, a patient at the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim collapsed during a police operation on the market square. The 47-year-old died in hospital. A report commissioned by the public prosecutor's office revealed that the man died of a "position and fixation-related respiratory disability" with subsequent metabolic derailment in combination with suffocation due to bleeding in the upper respiratory tract.
According to the public prosecutor, a doctor from the Central Institute for Mental Health asked the two accused police officers to bring the 47-year-old back to the facility because of acute self-endangerment. However, since the man refused, the police commissioner initially used pepper spray. Because that didn't help, the officers took the man to the ground and hit him twice in the head. After the man continued to resist, the chief inspector hit the head again, causing bleeding from the nose.
"In particular, the 47-year-old suffered from a lack of oxygen due to the long and unfavorable fixation on his stomach and a blockage of the upper respiratory tract from inhaled blood. He finally lost consciousness due to a metabolic imbalance and ultimately died in the hospital despite resuscitation measures," it says the public prosecutor.
The district court must decide whether to allow the indictment. A spokesman was initially unable to say when this would happen. The "Rheinpfalz" reported about it first. The police headquarters in Mannheim announced that the police commissioner would remain suspended due to the indictment. The suspension of the chief police officer will be lifted. Until further notice, he will be employed in the office within the Executive Committee.
