By Dena Burroughs
A distraught Denise Le attended the El Monte City Council meeting last Tuesday demanding an immediate investigation of the death of her brother, Khoa Ahn Le, who died after an altercation with the police.
“Today would have been my brother’s birthday,” she said with a voice full of emotion. “Instead of celebrating, he is now dead.”
Khoa Ahn was reportedly in an argument with his father on June 14th, during which the police was called. According with Denise, the argument was over by the time the officers arrived. Still, the man was hit with a flashlight and a baton in the torso, ankle, and knee. He was put in a chokehold and was tasered. The officers said Khoa Ahn resisted arrest. The family said by the time the officers got him out of the house in handcuffs, he was unconscious. The man later died in a hospital.
“He was not a criminal,” Denise told the council members. “He had a mental disorder and had not weapon in his hand. Is this how you train your officers? They choked him and beat him about twenty times,” she added. Denise was accompanied by two lawyers who also spoke and demanded an investigation from the City Council.
“Thank you for being here,” answered Mayor Quintero. “We extend our deepest condolences. Right now the investigation is in the Sheriff’s hands; they’re conducting what we expect to be a thorough investigation and we look forward to getting those results, seeing what the results are, and then taking appropriate actions,” he added.
The LA County Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Khao Ahn’s body, but the results will be released only after the toxicology tests are complete.
The names of the police officers involved have not been released. They suffered injuries during the altercation in the nose, upper lip, elbow, and knee, for which they were taken to the hospital, treated and released.
According to reports, this was the third time that officers had been called to the Le home. In 2005 and 2006, Khao Ahn had been taken into custody by the El Monte Police for mental observation. In one of those occasions he was suspected of stabbing his brother.
