7 police officers put on leave after man’s restraint death outside fish shop in Boston suburb

HAVERHILL, Mass. (AP) — Seven officers in the Boston suburb of Haverhill are on paid leave after a handcuffed 43-year-old man became unresponsive and died as police tried to restrain him outside a fish market.

Officials are seeking video and photos from the public as they investigate the death Friday of Francis Gigliotti. who had been walking into traffic during what his fiancee called a mental health crisis.

The officers were not wearing body cameras. Video captured by witnesses showed several officers holding Gigliotti face down as he cries out, although it was not clear how long he was restrained or when he became unresponsive.

The U.S. Department of Justice has warned police officers since the mid-1990s to roll suspects off their stomachs as soon as they are handcuffed because of the danger of positional asphyxia.

Putting someone on their stomach is not inherently life-threatening. But many policing experts agree that someone can stop breathing if pinned on their chest for too long or with too much weight because it can compress the lungs and put stress on the heart.

Fiancee Michelle Rooney said he was unarmed.

“What happened to him was absolutely terrible, and my heart’s broken,” she told Boston’s NBC10. “I heard Francis scream as I was running up the hill. But by the time I got there, he wasn’t screaming anymore.”

Other video the station obtained shows Gigliotti falling onto the sidewalk as he leaves a store, then hitting his head on a parked car and weaving into traffic. Authorities said he was nearly struck several times.

In a statement posted Sunday, District Attorney Paul F. Tucker and Haverhill Police Chief Robert Pistone said responding police “found Gigliotti behaving in an erratic and belligerent manner and called for an ambulance to assess his well-being.”

Muriel Enos, Gigliotti’s aunt, told WCVB that video of the police encounter horrified her.

“Seven police officers holding one (person) and watching my nephew beg for help,” she said. “And then listening to his last cry.”

Both Mayor Melinda E. Barrett and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey offered condolences to the family. Barrett promised a transparent investigation.

According to Barrett, the city of Haverhill funds both a social worker who works with police on drug intervention and a behavioral health clinician who is embedded in the police department. The behavioral health unit responded to more than 800 calls last year, she said.

“As we mourn, we must also reflect on how we help those in crisis,” said Barrett, who said she hopes to build on these resources and invest in more training and equipment for police.