Joliet man David Malito dies in police custody after encounter caught on bodycam video at Shell gas station; family files lawsuit
JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) — Joliet police officers are facing a new lawsuit and being accused of excessive force.
Body-camera video showed 39-year-old David Malito in a struggle with officers at a gas station last Christmas before his death.
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Police say Malito was behaving erratically. He was restrained, and an officer had his knee on his back.
Malito died shortly after.
Police say Malito had drugs in his system and died from an overdose.
The Will County State’s Attorney’s Office cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.
Malito’s family has now filed a lawsuit and are calling for an independent investigation, and what they call “better” officer training.
Malito’s death took place just two weeks after the Illinois attorney general issued a three-year-long report finding that Joliet police have a pattern of engaging of excessive force.
The probe was requested following the in-custody death of Eric Lurry in 2020. Lurry was found to have died from a Fentanyl overdose. Police, at the time, said they were trying to remove drugs from his mouth and were not responsible for his death.
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