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Jessee Conrad Rickman

Age : 28

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 09/10/2021

Location : 1400 block of North 7th Avenue

City : Phoenix

County : Maricopa

State : Arizona

Agency : Phoenix Police Department

Officer(s) :Austin Martin, Steven Land, Jacob Ninow, Autumn Ladines, Anthony Fink, Joseph Overly, Ryan O’Hayer, Garrett Joyner, Timothy Kittl

Cause of Death : Asphyxiation

Event : Killed by police during mental health crisis

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 09/10/2021, 28-year-old Jessee Conrad Rickman died after nine Phoenix Police Department officers restrained him near the 1400 block of North 7th Avenue. Phoenix police records identify the involved officers as Austin Martin, Steven Land, Jacob Ninow, Autumn Ladines, Anthony Fink, Joseph Overly, Ryan O’Hayer, Garrett Joyner and Timothy Kittl.
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At approximately 12:48 a.m., Martin and Land responded to multiple calls reporting a naked man in the roadway on North 7th Avenue between West Palm Avenue and West Willetta Street. They found Rickman completely nude in the northbound lanes north of the Interstate 10 off-ramp. Police records state that Rickman was yelling nonsensical statements, sweating heavily and clenching his fist as he walked toward Martin. Contemporary reporting said he was speaking about God and the devil.
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Martin and Land ordered Rickman to stop. Police records state that Land grabbed Rickman’s right arm and Martin grabbed his left arm. Because Rickman was sweating and officers were having difficulty maintaining their grip, Martin and Land took him to the ground and requested additional officers.
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Ninow, Ladines, Fink, Overly, O’Hayer, Joyner and Kittl arrived. According to the department’s later in-custody-death report, Rickman did not give officers his hands, made spitting noises and kicked at officers. Officers used what the department described as “soft-open hand techniques” to handcuff him behind his back. They then placed a spit hood over his head and applied a RIP leg restraint.
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Ninow and O’Hayer maintained physical control of Rickman and placed him on his side within seconds after he was handcuffed. Officers subsequently moved him from the roadway to a seated position on the east sidewalk. The department’s internal report states that Ninow and O’Hayer then placed their knees on Rickman’s back while he was seated.
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Phoenix Fire Department personnel arrived and began evaluating Rickman while he remained restrained. During that evaluation he became unresponsive. Ninow and O’Hayer removed the handcuffs, spit hood and RIP restraint, and fire personnel began CPR. Rickman was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.
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Phoenix police released edited body-camera footage approximately two weeks later. The footage showed portions of Rickman’s restraint and showed him on his side while Phoenix Fire personnel evaluated him before he became unresponsive.
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The department’s internal use-of-force records classify Rickman as having exhibited passive resistance, psychological intimidation, verbal noncompliance, active resistance and active aggression. The same records identify officers’ perception of drug impairment and record the outcome as a fatality.
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The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office received the in-custody-death investigation on 02/07/2022. On 03/07/2022, the County Attorney cleared the case.
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Phoenix Police Department records show that its Critical Incident Review Board did not review Rickman’s death until 02/13/2024, more than two years after he died. CIRB determined the officers’ actions were within department policy.
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Internal records subsequently made public show that body-camera files from Martin, Ninow, Ladines, Fink and O’Hayer were attached to the department’s investigation, along with Phoenix Fire Department records and photographs. The internal case was returned for additional administrative work in March 2024 before again being listed as completed.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Phoenix Police Department records identify Austin Martin and Steven Land as the first officers to make physical contact with Rickman. Jacob Ninow and Ryan O’Hayer subsequently maintained physical control of Rickman, placed him in the recovery position and later placed their knees against his back while he was seated and restrained. Autumn Ladines, Anthony Fink, Joseph Overly, Garrett Joyner and Timothy Kittl also responded and are formally identified by Phoenix police as involved employees.
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The department’s Critical Incident Review Board determined on 02/13/2024 that the force in Rickman’s case was within policy.
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Rickman died only five weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice opened a pattern-or-practice civil-rights investigation of Phoenix police on 08/05/2021. The investigation specifically examined use of force, treatment of people with behavioral-health disabilities, treatment of homeless people, discriminatory policing and police accountability.
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In June 2024, DOJ announced that it had found reasonable cause to conclude that Phoenix police engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force, including unjustified deadly force; unlawfully detained, cited and arrested homeless people; discriminated against Black, Hispanic and Native American people; and, together with the city, discriminated against people with behavioral-health disabilities in dispatching and responding to crisis calls.
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DOJ specifically found problems involving Phoenix officers’ use of leg restraints and compression restraints and found that officers frequently escalated encounters unnecessarily. DOJ also found systemic deficiencies in Phoenix’s response to behavioral-health crises. These were department-wide findings and were not findings that the officers in Rickman’s case violated federal law.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-breaking/2021/09/11/man-dies-after-being-restrained-by-phoenix-police/
https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/man-dies-after-phoenix-police-restraint/75-2e8f9a62-9b9a-4a3f-bb4a-3b9c9f2a2c7a
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/man-dies-after-phoenix-police-restraint
https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/police-investigating-death-central-phoenix-sept-10-2021/75-a0d9cf12-2d98-463e-8b3f-edc022e21039
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/phoenix-intersection-closed-due-to-death-investigation
https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/death-investigation-underway-near-7th-avenue-and-mcdowell-road
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/body-cam-video-shows-phoenix-officers-detaining-naked-man-before-dying-in-custody
https://kyma.com/news/arizona-news/2021/09/16/man-who-died-in-custody-after-running-nude-in-phoenix-identified/
https://dojrecords.phoenix.gov/Documents/C14_PSB_In_Custody_Death_Report_1.pdf
https://dojrecords.phoenix.gov/Documents/C14_Use_Of_Force_Report_4.pdf
https://maricopacountyattorney.org/563/First-Responder-Critical-Incident-Callou
https://www.justice.gov/crt/case/phoenix-police-department
https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/phoenix-police-department-findings-report