Rashan Charles death: Video shows police throw 20-year-old to ground in London shop before struggle
20-year-old died in hospital after altercation with police in the early hours of Saturday
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Your support makes all the difference.Video has emerged showing the moments before a man died after being thrown to the ground by police officers in an east London shop.
The man, named locally as 20-year-old Rashan Charles, died in the early hours of Saturday morning after being chased and apprehended in the Yours Locally 24-hour store in Dalston, Hackney.
CCTV footage from the store, which has been widely circulated on social media, shows the man entering the shop before a uniformed police officer runs in after him and grabs him. The officer then tackles him to the ground, seemingly with an arm around his neck.
The officer appears to be trying to reach inside the man’s mouth as he writhes on the ground.
Another man, dressed in jeans and a dark jacket, then intervenes to help the officer hold the suspect down. The complete video lasts for just over 3 minutes.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which has opened an investigation, said it had evidence suggesting the man had tried to swallow an object, which was removed from his throat at the scene.
He was taken to hospital but died later in the morning.
The Metropolitan Police said the incident occurred after officers tried to stop a car on Kingsland Road, Hackney, around 1.45am on Saturday.
They say the passenger in the car was chased on foot before being apprehended in the shop.
He attempted to swallow an object and then became ill, the Met said in a statement. First aid was given by the police officer, a police medic and paramedics before the man was taken by ambulance to the Royal London Hospital.
The IPCC opened an independent investigation into the incident at 3.10am and investigators were deployed to scene. The man’s family have been informed and a number of non-police eyewitness accounts taken from people who witnessed the incident. The police officers involved have also been interviewed and their body-worn camera footage examined.
Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact them by email at witness_contact@ipcc.gsi.gov.uk.
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