James Chasse
James Chasse was a man living with schizophrenia. His friend Jason Renaud remembered him from school as an artistic person who wrote poetry, put out a newsletter and made art. On September 17, 2006, police and a county deputy chased and tackled him in Portland's Pearl District. Paramedics cleared him for jail, but according to KATU the Multnomah County Jail refused to take him because of medical problems, and he died while police were driving him to a hospital. KATU reported that the autopsy found blunt force trauma to his chest and 16 broken ribs and listed the death as a homicide, and a grand jury cleared the officers, while the city later settled a lawsuit brought by his family for $1.6 million in 2010.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed). Police and a county deputy tackled him, and an autopsy found blunt force trauma to his chest and 16 broken ribs; his family's lawsuit contests the official account of the arrest.
Reported by: autopsy; his family's lawsuit (family or their lawyers); KATU (reporters).
Lawsuit: His family sued the city of Portland and settled for $1.6 million in 2010.