{"id":1849906,"date":"2023-02-16T14:35:25","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T19:35:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1849906"},"modified":"2023-02-16T14:36:13","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T19:36:13","slug":"a-man-in-police-custody-died-after-being-locked-in-a-kitchen-freezer-his-family-says-in-a-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-man-in-police-custody-died-after-being-locked-in-a-kitchen-freezer-his-family-says-in-a-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"A Man In Police Custody Died After Being Locked In A Kitchen Freezer, His Family Says In A Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-man-in-police-custody-died-after-being-locked-in-a-kitchen-freezer-his-family-says-in-a-lawsuit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1849906&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<p>An Alabama man died in police custody after he was allegedly locked in a kitchen freezer as punishment, the man\u2019s family says in its lawsuit against the police department.<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Don Mitchell, 33, was arrested on January 12 after Walker County Sheriff\u2019s Office (WCSO) deputies received a call from a person identified as a concerned family member, who said Mitchell had been making statements indicating he could harm himself or others, WBRC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actionnews5.com\/2023\/02\/15\/graphic-man-froze-death-after-being-locked-jails-kitchen-freezer-punishment-lawsuit-says\/\">reported<\/a>. According to the WCSO Mitchell was found in the front yard, and he appeared to be pointing a handgun at deputies as soon as they arrived. Mitchell allegedly opened fire on deputies immediately and fled into the woods behind his home.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple agencies worked together to secure the area. Mitchell was eventually taken into custody and charged with attempted murder. Deputies said that they also found heroin and methamphetamine at the house.<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell was held under police arrest when an incident occurred and he was taken into hospital. According to his family, he was subject to a beating. \u201chours of neglect\u201d He was then locked in a walkin freezer \u201cor similar frigid environment\u201d in the jail\u2019s kitchen as punishment for his behavior, WIAT <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbs42.com\/regional\/after-release-of-video-lawsuit-claims-alabama-man-froze-to-death-in-police-custody-was-likely-placed-in-jail-freezer\/\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Sheriff\u2019s Office said in a statement to WBRC that Mitchell had been taken to the hospital on January 26 and \u201cbecame unresponsive at the hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.\u201d Attorneys for his mother, however, released security camera footage from the jail showing officers carrying Mitchell\u2019s body out of the facility to an awaiting vehicle. Mitchell is not seen in the footage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of the most appalling cases of jail abuse the country has seen,\u201d According to WIAT the federal lawsuit was 37 pages long. \u201cOn the night of January 25 to January 26, 2023, Anthony Don Mitchell (\u201cTony\u201d) froze to death while incarcerated at the Walker County Jail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell\u2019s death, the complaint adds, \u201craises an appalling question: how does a man literally freeze to death while incarcerated in a modern, climate-controlled jail, in the custody and care of corrections officers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell is also accused in the lawsuit. \u201clikely\u2026 placed in a restraint chair in the jail kitchen\u2019s walk-in freezer or similar frigid environment and left there for hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell\u2019s treatment only came to light after a correctional officer released footage. Jon Goldfarb, the attorney representing Mitchell\u2019s family, said that officer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbs42.com\/digital-exclusive\/unsatisfactory-service-sheriff-fired-officer-who-blew-whistle-on-treatment-of-mentally-ill-man-lawsuit-alleges\/\">Later, it was fired<\/a>. Local media outlets received surveillance footage showing his body being released from the prison.<\/p>\n<p>WIAT reported that the video contradicted an earlier claim made by the WCSO about Mitchell. \u201calert and conscious\u201d He was transferred to a local hospital after he had left jail.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not sure what circumstances the patient was held in incarceration but it is difficult to understand a rectal temperature of 72\u00b0 F 22\u00b0 centigrade while someone is incarcerated in jail,\u201d According to the lawsuit, a doctor in an emergency room wrote notes. \u201cThe cause of his hypothermia is not clear. It is possible he had an underlying medical condition resulting in hypothermia. I do not know if he could have been exposed to a cold environment. I do believe that hypothermia was the ultimate cause of his death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell was reportedly naked while incarcerated in additional surveillance video images. His family\u2019s lawsuit said he was kept in a concrete isolation cell, like \u201ca dog kennel,\u201d During his two weeks in prison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cell lacked a bed or other furnishing,\u201d The lawsuit states. \u201cThere was only a drain in the floor that could be used as a toilet. The cell was bare cement, the equivalent of a dog kennel. But unlike a dog, Tony was not even given a mat to sleep on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitchell\u2019s death is being investigated by state police.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Alabama man died in police custody after he was allegedly locked in a kitchen freezer as punishment, the man\u2019s family says in its lawsuit against the police department. Anthony Don Mitchell, 33, was arrested on January 12 after Walker County Sheriff\u2019s Office (WCSO) deputies received a call from a person identified as a concerned &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":1849909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[6026,3893,3881,18852,14471,4585,10146,3967],"class_list":["post-1849906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-custody","tag-died","tag-family","tag-freezer","tag-kitchen","tag-lawsuit","tag-locked","tag-police"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1849906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1849906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1849906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1849909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1849906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1849906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1849906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}