Metro Police
This screen shot taken from Metro Police video shows officers restraining Nicholas Farah 36, of Appleton, Wis., at the Clark County Detention Center on Sunday, March 31, 2019.
Published Wednesday, April 3, 2019 | 4:08 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, April 3, 2019 | 7:03 p.m.
A Wisconsin man arrested for refusing to leave an off-Strip hotel died Sunday after officers at the jail pushed his head to his knees for more than a minute to control him, Metro Police said.
Nicholas Farah, 36, of Appleton, Wis., stopped breathing as officers pushed him down and lifted his arms for about 75 seconds while trying to change his handcuffs, Clark County Assistant Sheriff Charles Hank said at a news briefing today.
Farah was taken to University Medical Center, where he was declared dead. The cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, the Clark County Coroner’s Office said.
Reached via social media, a family member of Farah declined comment.
At today’s briefing, Hank showed video of Farah’s interaction with patrol officers that led to his arrest at an off-Strip hotel and of the struggle at the jail.
Staff at the hotel in the 4900 block of Valley View Boulevard summoned officers about 8:15 p.m. Sunday because Farah kept summoning taxis and then refusing rides, Hank said.
Video from an officer’s body-worn camera shows police asking Farah to leave. “Listen, the business doesn’t want you here anymore, OK,” an officer said.
Farah, however, refused and became combative, so he was arrested on counts of trespassing, obstructing and resisting arrest, police said. He was taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where two corrections officers and two sergeants were waiting with a restraining chair, Hank said.
Officers pulled Farah out of the Metro cruiser and buckled him into the chair, which is routine practice for someone who is being combative, Hank said. That’s when they pushed his head down to switch the handcuffs, he said.
Medics on the scene noticed blood near Farah’s hand and that he was not breathing as he was being wheeled away, Hank said. Farah was pronounced dead at 9:59 p.m. at the hospital, Hank said.
Four corrections officers involved in the incident, Sgt. Richard Newman, 53, Sgt. Samuel Mendoza, 40, Officer Aaron Mosley, 54, and Officer Jeremy Stewart, 44, were placed on routine paid administrative leave as the investigation continued, police said.
The death comes about a month after Roy Anthony Scott, 65, died shortly after an encounter with Metro officers.
An agitated Scott summoned police on March 3 to his central valley apartment, suggesting his life was in danger.
When officers arrived and tried to talk to him, he produced a metal pipe, which he dropped to the ground, and a knife that he handed to the cops.
When they tried to put him in handcuffs to search him, he resisted, and became unresponsive shortly after the officers put him in custody.
The coroner's office ruled that he died from methamphetamine intoxication, with paranoid schizophrenia and cardiovascular disease playing a significant role.
