City Hall releases dashcam of man who died in CPD custody

A Chicago Police officer puts his foot on the neck of Heriberto Godinez Jr. | Still image from video

City Hall on Friday released the dashcam video of a man who died in police custody last summer in Brighton Park — and police announced two officers involved in the arrest are being placed on desk duty pending an investigation.

The release comes after lawyers for Heriberto Godinez’s family fought the city in court over a request for video and audio that captured the July 20, 2015 incident. Attorney Torreya Hamilton sued the city and accused it of using the same arguments it used to withhold the video of the notorious police shooting death of Laquan McDonald.

The dashcam video shows Godinez wiggling while handcuffed and sitting against a Chicago Police SUV. He attempts to move away from the car, and an officer puts a foot on his neck for about two seconds. Then several other police officers arrive to help put Godinez in custody.



Godinez was arrested after police were called to a report of a burglary in the 3000 block of West Pershing. They found Godinez and suspected him of being involved in the break-in, police said at the time. He was “sweating heavily with labored breathing,” police said. He was eventually pronounced dead at the scene.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office determined the cause of Godinez’s death to be “combined cocaine and ethanol toxicity.” But it said the manner of his death was undetermined. Godinez “demonstrated agitated behavior with self-injury which allegedly continued upon placement into a transport vehicle,” the office said, citing reports and “videotape evidence.”

In February, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said he would “work to ensure” that recommendations by his Task Force on Police Accountability to release video of such incidents within 60 days “become the rule going forward.”

City Hall on Friday said the city is providing the video because the Independent Police Review Authority “has advanced its investigation to the point it no longer objects” to its release.

“The city always planned to release these records as part of its new policy of increasing transparency while also protecting the integrity of ongoing investigations,” the city’s Law Department spokesman, Bill McCaffrey, said in a statement.

The city contends public-records requests were denied because of the pending IPRA investigation.

In a statement, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Supt. Eddie Johnson is placing two officers on administrative duties pending the outcome of IPRA’s investigation as a way of “taking action to restore accountability in the police department.” He called the officers’ actions “concerning.”

“As superintendent, one of my top priorities is establishing a culture of accountability at every level of the police department, from top command staff to the rank and file. Holding each other accountable is a central piece to rebuilding the frayed trust between the department and communities we serve,” said Johnson in the statement. “The actions by two officers in the video are concerning, and as a result, I have removed them from operational duties pending the outcome of IPRA’s thorough investigation.”

The FBI and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office are still investigating the death.

“Our office was notified of the . . . death of Heriberto Godinez Jr. while in Chicago Police custody. Our analysis and assessment of the circumstances surrounding the incident is ongoing,” an FBI spokesman said in a statement.

Attorneys for Godinez’s family say they’re livid the video was released to media prior to them being able to view it with his family.

“It seems kind of ridiculous that this has taken this long for it to just burn a copy of a DVD. I have been fighting them in court to get it and that’s all been at the expense of taxpayers,” Hamilton said. “It would have been really nice for them to let us view it with the family before they released it to the public.”

Several superficial injuries were documented during Godinez’s autopsy, “but there were no lethal blunt force or penetrating injuries,” according to the medical examiner. Noting the neck “felt a bit loose,” it said there was no evidence of a broken neck or injuries to the larynx.

“The sudden, unexpected collapse and death of Mr. Godinez most likely represents a cardiac dysrhythmia following intense physical exertion while under the influence of cocaine and ethanol,” according to the office’s findings.

The Sun-Times filed a Freedom of Information Act Request for the dashcam video on March 1, but it was denied. The Sun-Times challenged the city’s decision not to release the video with the Attorney General’s public access counselor.

This week, in a high-profile lawsuit, the City Council approved a $4.95 million settlement in another case alleging the police used excessive force on a man who later died.

Philip Coleman died in 2012 after he was handcuffed and dragged from his cell by Chicago Police officers. The incident was captured on a security video, which the city made public late last year.

A federal judge said the incident amounted to “brute force.”

Coleman, 38, didn’t die from any injuries he suffered in that incident, but from a sedative he later received at a hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Video, of course, also played a central role in the U.S. Justice Department launching an investigation of the police department late last year.

A dashcam video showed a Chicago Police officer firing 16 rounds into a knife-wielding teen, Laquan McDonald, as he walked away and later was lying on the street.

The officer, Jason Van Dyke, is charged with murder. Police Supt. Garry McCarthy was forced to resign over the 2014 incident. The city released the video in November under a court order.