Grand Jury finds officers’ acts ‘appropriate,’ but offers concerns in arrest, death of Eimers

BY RALPH MORROW

MANAGING EDITOR

After hearing from some 32 witnesses over four different days, a Monroe County Grand Jury has determined that the amount of force used by Key West Police officers was “appropriate for the situation, reasonable under the circumstances and clearly justified,” in the Thanksgiving Day arrest that led to the in-custody death of Charles Eimers.

While the Grand Jury, in a 10-page report signed by foreperson Michael Cunningham, found no cause for any members of the KWPD to be prosecuted for criminal wrongdoing, it listed a bevy of concerns and recommendations surrounding the arrest and subsequent death of Eimers.

The Grand Jury, convened by the Office of the State Attorney, Catherine Vogel, recommended that the KWPD conduct an all-inclusive investigation into the incident, including a comprehensive review of the policies, protocol and procedures employed for situations involving in-custody deaths and in-custody “near-deaths.”

The 20-person jury that met July 21, 22 and 23 and again on Aug. 14 also recommended that the KWPD internal affairs undertake a thorough investigation “regarding certain officers which occurred after the incident.” The report continued, “We are extremely concerned about unprofessional conduct and statements that were made after the incident regarding the events of that morning. The internal affairs investigation should result in appropriate recommendations or sanctions for the officers involved regardless of their consequence or severity.”

The KWPD also came under scrutiny for its investigation, including “insufficient efforts” to promptly locate and interview civilian witnesses “who may have seen the events that morning.” The report also stated that the police department “failed to timely communicate” with Lower Keys Medical Center about whether Eimers was “in custody” while he was at the hospital.

The Grand Jury also recommended that the KWPD “offer additional mandatory training on the topics of stress management and sensitivity. The sensitivity training should have a public and social awareness component.”

In conclusion, the Grand Jury recommended that the Police Benevolent Association comply with Florida Department of Law Enforcement requests to interview officers within 30 days. Instead, according to the report, lawyers from the PBA, the officers’ union, insisted on being present during FDLE interviews and initially gave interview dates well over a month in the future and repeatedly rescheduled officer interviews.

The incident began at about 8:25 a.m., Nov. 28, when Eimers was stopped near the intersection of N. Roosevelt Blvd. and Kennedy Drive after making an improper lane change. According to the report, Eimers told the officer that he was “looking out for society,” “trying to save lives” and “working for the God Almighty.”

While the officer took the driver’s license to his police cruiser, Eimers left the traffic stop and headed toward downtown Key West, exceeding the speed limit, passing vehicles in the middle turn lane and running red lights.

He finally stopped his vehicle in the sand adjacent to the Southernmost Beach Café.

Other officers on the scene ordered Eimers to get on the ground, which he did by kneeling on the sand and then laying down on his stomach. Eimers first allowed the officers to secure his left wrist behind his back with handcuffs, but then began to resist. He was subsequently restrained by the officers’ arms as they also attempted to place leg restraints on him.

One officer used his knee to hold Eimers’ left shoulder on the ground during the struggle and was relieved by another officer who also held down the shoulder. Although one of the officers removed his Taser from his holder, neither he nor any of the officers discharged their Tasers, according to the report.

After Eimers was handcuffed, the officers were assisting him to stand up when they realized that he was unconscious and unresponsive. They immediately removed the handcuffs and began applying CPR. An ambulance was called and Eimers was taken to LKMC, “unconscious, but alive,” according to the report. Some 13 officers had been involved in the arrest. Eight civilians, who witnessed the arrest, were interviewed by the Grand Jury with none saying they had seen an officer strike Eimers on the head nor did they see Eimers’ face directly into the sand.

However, the witnesses did tell about an officer making derogatory statements about Eimers as well as giving erroneous accounts of the incident.

A detective was assigned to go to LKMC to determine Eimers’ condition, which was that he had pre-existing non-ischemic cardiomyopathy and was unlikely to live. An officer was initially at the hospital, but not during the rest of Eimers’ stay there.

While the detective had requested hospital personnel to contact him in the event Eimers died, there apparently was confusion at the hospital about whether Eimers was in police custody. Instead, the hospital contacted Eimers’ family and on Dec. 4, the family instructed LKMC to take him off life support. He died shortly thereafter.

Arrangements were made through the family to transport Eimers to a local funeral home. On Dec. 11, the detective learned of the death and contacted the FDLE, which in turn made arrangements for an autopsy, which was conducted on Dec. 12.

 

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