By Andrew McIntosh Bee Staff Writer
Sacramento Bee (California)
Copyright 2007 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
LOS ANGELES — Responding to an emergency call in September 2000, Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic Michael Chance arrived to find a patient pinned to the ground by five sheriff’s deputies.
The deputies had used handcuffs, a belt and their own bodies to restrain Victor Cox Sr. after his wife called for help.
Chance positioned himself behind Cox’s head to talk to him, according to documents The Bee obtained from the state Emergency Medical Services Authority.
“Hey, buddy, What’s up, huh?” Chance asked, according to the records.
“F--- off,” Cox reportedly replied, attempting to spit at Chance.
What happened next was captured on a law enforcement video so disturbing that state and county officials feared that if it were ever publicly broadcast, it might trigger race riots in Los Angeles.
Chance is white, Cox is African American and EMSA enforcement records say Chance stood up and put his right boot on the back of Cox’s head.
“You don’t want to talk to me, huh?” Chance reportedly said, turning to the deputies to add: “I ain’t going to mess with him.”
A minute later, Cox had trouble breathing and fell unconscious. Two and half minutes passed, EMSA documents say, without Chance repositioning Cox’s head to help him breathe, opening his airways with a tube or beginning CPR.
Cox suffered cardiac arrest and was dead before he reached the hospital.
EMSA declined to show the videotape to The Bee, saying it was part of the investigative record, but agency Director Cesar Aristeiguieta described it.
“You can actually see the man dying on the video,” he said.
Chance could not be reached for comment but, after an inquiry, the Los Angeles County Fire Department fired him for failing to offer Cox proper care. He also had made inaccurate, incomplete and false statements to investigators when questioned, EMSA records state.
In July 2001, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved $1.1 million to settle the wrongful death claim of Cox’s widow and three children.
Though an autopsy found Cox had died of cocaine intoxication and drug- induced delirium, Los Angeles County deputy legal counsel Peter M. Glick said in a memo recommending approval of the settlement that he feared a jury would find Chance’s failure to provide Cox with immediate emergency medical treatment contributed to his death.
By 2003, the state had revoked Chance’s paramedic license for professional misconduct, documents show. L.A. County then revoked his local emergency medical technician certification.
Nevertheless, Chance remained in the emergency medical services business as an EMT firefighter at the Montebello Fire Department.
Montebello Chief Steve Huson said his department hired Chance after L.A. County fired him but before he was accused of patient neglect by EMSA in 2002. Though aware of the incident at the time, Huson said a Los Angeles battalion chief led him to believe Chance had been unfairly fired. “The deputies hogtied the man; Chance was scapegoated,” he said.
When EMSA and L.A. County revoked Chance’s paramedic and EMT certifications in 2003, the Montebello Fire Department granted Chance one of its own EMT certifications.
By April 2006, Chance was given permission by EMSA to regain his state paramedic license.
In his application for reinstatement, Chance said he realized his actions were wrong. He said he was burned out and that, at least subconsciously, he didn’t care about Cox because he believed he was a drug dealer causing a lot of harm in his neighborhood.
The man’s race was never an issue, Chance added, though state documents say L.A. County fire investigators believed discrimination was a factor.
Chance has undergone counseling and classes in stress management and ethics. As part of a probationary license agreement with EMSA, he wrote a 2,000-word essay about his experiences. Though intended for use as a future teaching tool, EMSA could not find a copy in its files and officials there said it may have been “inadvertently shredded.”
Huson and Aristeiguieta said Chance has not yet resumed working as a paramedic; he has to finish several certification steps.
Aristeiguieta praised Chance’s rehabilitation efforts but said he remains concerned about how the man managed to become an EMT after state and county officials had revoked his paramedic and EMT certifications on grounds that he could present a danger to the public.