Cedric Chouviat, 42, was stopped by police close to the Eiffel Tower in Paris on 3 January for a traffic control.
He died in hospital two days after the arrest from asphyxia, with "a fracture to the larynx", according to elements of the autopsy released by Paris prosecutors.
In video footage collected by investigators and reported by French media, he can be heard saying "I'm suffocating" seven times as police hold him down.
Prosecutors have opened a case against the four officers at the scene for "involuntary homicide". They remain on duty. Their lawyer Thibault de Montbrial has declined to comment.
«J’étouffe ! » : Cédric Chouviat, mort à la suite de son interpellation le 3 janvier, a dit sept fois aux policiers qu’il ne pouvait plus respirer https://t.co/eNmGpx0jWt
— Le Monde (@lemondefr) June 22, 2020
The investigators used video images recorded by the victim, one of the police officers and a bystander. The footage appears to show Chouviat with the weight of at least one officer on his torso. According to two witnesses, the delivery driver was held in a chokehold.
A 'form of provocation'
"The exchange is relatively civil, even if we can sense a form of 'provocation' or 'defiance' in (Chouviat's) words," said the expert who analysed footage of the incident.
“Chouviat calls the policemen 'clowns' and one of them a 'loser', insulted them and tells them several times not to touch him. He tells a policeman that he's a 'fool'. The officer decides to arrest him."
They claimed he "collapsed on his own" before the videos surfaced. His autopsy showed his larynx had been crushed.
— Jules ⎢ #BlackLivesMatter (@j9wlz) June 22, 2020
To this day, these cops have NOT been suspended. #JusticepourCedricChouviat #ICantBreathe #MurderbyCop #EndPoliceBrutality #BanChokeHoldshttps://t.co/FsjvBbv1Bi
"In the next 22 seconds we can hear different sounds we cannot identify. The arrested person says several times 'I'm suffocating'. And we can hear one of the policemen say, 'All good, all good, cuffs on.’”
The police watchdog (IGPN) in charge of the investigation has transferred its findings to investigating magistrates who will now decide whether the four officers will be charged.
Controversial chokehold technique
The family of Chouviat, a father of five, has condemned what they term an act of unjustified police violence caused by what they said were "dangerous" restraint techniques.
France has seen demonstrations in recent weeks against alleged brutality and racism by the police, a controversy that has gained resonance since protests erupted in the United States over the killing by police of George Floyd.
Chouviat's pleas echoes Floyd's last words "I can't breathe", which have rallied protesters across the world.
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His death came after that of 2016 of a young black man, Adama Traore, after he was similarly pinned to the ground with the combined body weight of three arresting officers, according to the testimony of one of them.
The French government this month announced the ban of the chokehold technique which critics say is too often deadly.
But a few days later, the government made a U-turn after a backlash by police unions, who demonstrated across France, throwing their handcuffs on the ground in protest.
In the days following Chouviat's death, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner promised sanctions against officers "if wrongdoings are established".
Strasbourg officer sanctioned
On Tuesday, a policeman officer was handed an 18-month suspended prison sentence for hitting an unarmed protester with his baton during Yellow Vest protest in January 2019.
The victim, a 62-year-old woman, required 11 stitches to the back of her head after the incident.
"Finally an internal police investigation into brutality has produced an outcome implicating an officer," welcomed Renaud Bettcher, the woman's lawyer.
The sentence is accompanied by a five-year ban on the carrying of weapons. The prosecution had requested 12 months' suspended sentence.
