08-27-2023 West Jordan OICI SLCo DA Declines to File Charges

Today, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office released their conclusions in the August 27, 2023, death of Orlando Toro Garcia after he was placed in handcuffs by responding officers from West Jordan Police Department. After conducting an Officer Involved Critical Incident (OICI) review of the incident, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office declined to file criminal charges against the responding officers. 

On August 27, 2023, at 1:42 am, an individual called 911 and reported he thought Orlando Toro Garcia was overdosing and requested an ambulance. When conveying details of the call to responding officers, police radio dispatch advised of 911 call details that Mr. Garcia was violent. When the officers arrived, the relatives of Mr. Garcia told them that they did not know what drug he had taken. The responding officers asked Mr. Garcia to lie on his stomach and told him to put his hands behind his back so he could get medical attention; at 1:55:30 a.m., officers then placed handcuffs on Mr. Garcia. Mr. Garcia struggled against the restraints as officers reassured him that they were checking to be sure he didn't have any weapons. After asking Mr. Garcia's relatives to back up, the officers moved Mr. Garcia to his side at 1:56:27 a.m., but Mr. Garcia began to seize or choke. Officers called for fire medical personnel to get there and removed the handcuffs. Officers then put Mr. Garcia on his back and at 1:57:09 a.m., began giving him CPR. Seconds after starting CPR, fire medical personnel arrived and took over medical efforts. Those lifesaving efforts continued for more than 20 minutes, but Mr. Garcia was pronounced dead at 2:23 am.

In short, this was not a use of force matter as fully outlined in our findings (attached) and based on the Medical Examiner's finding that Mr. Garcia's death was related to mixed drug toxicity. Though the Medical Examiner determined that the actions of law enforcement may have contributed to the death, there is nothing remarkable from the video footage even to infer that the actions of the officers were anything other than reasonable efforts to stabilize the scene so that emergency medical responders could safely enter and provide medical aid to Mr. Garcia. Based upon the facts and evidence before us, we do not believe it is likely that his death resulted from the officers' attempts to gain physical control of him.

West Jordan Police Department requested an OICI protocol investigation. The DA's Office reviewed the facts and concluded that the incident did not fall within the statutory definition of an OICI. Nevertheless, the district attorney concluded that no wrongdoing had occurred and declined to file a criminal case against any law enforcement involved.