Richard Johnson
Richard Johnson, 32, was the youngest of seven siblings and an uncle to many nieces and nephews, according to his family, and his mother, Gloria Johnson Vinson, says he would lecture her and joke around with her. Madison police restrained him after a foot chase on December 30, 2024, and he became unresponsive in a police vehicle while being taken toward the Dane County Jail. He died the next day at UnityPoint Health-Meriter Hospital. The county medical examiner ruled his death an accident from cocaine toxicity, while the city's Office of the Independent Monitor concluded that prone restraint caused cardiac arrest and that the death should have been ruled a homicide. Madison police and the Wisconsin Professional Police Association dispute the monitor's findings, saying the knee was on his shoulder blades and the restraint was a trained technique.
Cause of death, as reported: Killed by staff (disputed). The city's Office of the Independent Monitor says police restraint caused his cardiac arrest and acidosis and calls for a homicide ruling, while the county medical examiner ruled it an accident from cocaine toxicity and police and state investigators defend the officers' restraint.
Reported by: Madison Office of the Independent Monitor; Dane County Medical Examiner's Office (medical examiner or coroner); Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne; Madison Police Department (the agency that held him); Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation (outside investigators); Wisconsin Professional Police Association; family's attorney (family or their lawyers).
Sources (6)
- Man found unresponsive in Madison police custody has died
- DA declines to charge Madison officers in death of Richard Johnson
- Wisconsin posts police-related death records online; some are missing
- Madison police watchdog rules in-custody death a homicide
- MPD Response to June 15 Report from Interim Independent Police Monitor
- Independent monitor says use of force led to man's death in MPD custody