Under mounting public pressure, the Joliet Police Department on Tuesday released hours of video related to the death of a man in police custody after he allegedly ingested drugs.
Edited video of the arrest of Eric Lurry Jr. has been circulated since early July, but the new videos show additional cameras located in other squad cars.
The videos were released amid growing controversy around the officers’ actions during Lurry’s arrest on Jan. 29 during an undercover drug sting.
Although officers were cleared of wrongdoing by an independent review by the Will County state’s attorney’s office, Lurry’s wife, Nicole, told reporters Sunday she believes police were responsible for her husband’s death.
She said police showed her a similar video, but that the video had been edited and doesn’t show officer performing CPR.
According to police, officers found drugs hidden in Lurry’s mouth after he was arrested on drug charges. Video shows Lurry, 37, in the backseat of a police car for several minutes, hunched over while moving his mouth before officers open the rear doors and attempt to pull him from the rear seat.
An undercover officer enters the backseat and says, “Wake up, b-----,” before slapping him. The video’s audio then cuts out.
Officers are then seen shaking Lurry, hitting him and holding his nose. He lies still as the two officers continue to hold him in place. At one point, an officer puts his baton in Lurry’s mouth. A flashlight is shined in his face, and he eventually slumps over.
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None of the three videos released by police clearly shows officers performing CPR on Lurry, although one video angle shows several officer kneeled near Lurry between two police cars. Someone appears to perform chest compressions on Lurry when he is moved to an ambulance.
One video shows 15 minutes elapse between when Lurry is pulled from the squad car until an ambulance begins to take Lurry to a hospital.
The Will County coroner’s office ruled his death an accident due to heroin, fentanyl and cocaine intoxication, saying that Lurry had over 10 times the lethal dosage of the combined drugs in his system.
Video of the incident was initially shared with CBS2 by Joliet police Sgt. Javier Esqueda, according to police. Esqueda was placed on desk duty after police determined he shared the video without authorization.
