Killing of Tony Timpa

Incident

By the time police arrived, a security guard had already handcuffed Timpa. The officers then pinned him to the ground as he struggled and shouted, “You’re gonna kill me!” After he lost consciousness, they made jokes, with one asking, “Is he asleep?” and another commenting about waking up for breakfast and going to school. No one checked whether he was still alive before paramedics came.

For nearly 14 minutes, they kept him face-down on grass, zip-tied his legs, and an officer pressed a knee into his back. A paramedic gave him the sedative Versed. Timpa died within 20 minutes of the police’s arrival; his autopsy listed the cause as “cocaine and the stress associated with physical restraint.”

Legal proceedings

The public did not see footage of the incident until more than three years later, and that video contradicted the Dallas Police Department's earlier assertion that Timpa had been aggressive. The officers on scene were Sergeant Kevin Mansell and Officers Danny Vasquez and Dustin Dillard. In March 2019, all criminal charges against the three were dropped, and they returned to patrol. A civil lawsuit claiming excessive force was thrown out by U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey in July 2020, citing qualified immunity.

However, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling on December 15, 2021, allowing the Timpa family to proceed to trial against Dillard. A jury in September 2023 found all three officers liable for Timpa's wrongful death and awarded his son $1 million. The defense argued that cocaine in Timpa's system caused his death, while the plaintiffs had requested hundreds of millions. Two jurors later expressed regret that the damages were not higher.

Did You Know?

• Timpa was a 32-year-old American trucking company executive from Rockwall, Texas.
• According to an autopsy, Timpa had 0.647 milligrams per litre of cocaine in his body, described by the chief medical examiner as a significant amount.
• Timpa's death came to prominence in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, who died in a similar way.