The family of Rodney Coleman won a $250,000 settlement after Coleman’s death in the custody of the San Bernardino Sheriff’’s Department.
Willie Baylor, Coleman’s mother, brought the case on Aug. 8. Her complaint says that Coleman was at the bus stop by Park Avenue and Palmdale Road in Victorville on the morning of Aug. 11, 2021.
Contemporary news coverage of his death claimed the Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a man harassing a woman at the stop, but the complaint says there was no emergency.
The suit claims a sheriff’s deputy cut off Coleman’s breathing by placing him in an asphyxiating position in the back of the deputy’s patrol car. Coleman was having trouble breathing throughout the encounter with deputies, the complaint claims.
The deputies left Coleman unattended, and he was found unresponsive in the car, the complaint claims.
San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Mara Rodriguez declined to comment.
Baylor’s attorney, Christian Contreras of his own Los Angeles offices, confirmed the settlement. Humberto Guizar of his own Montebello offices was co-counsel for Baylor.
Christopher Wesierski and Michelle Prescott of Lake Forest’s Wesierski and Zurek represented San Bernardino County.
California Central District Judge Sunshine Sykes presided.
Read the complaint here.
