Juan Vega

How they died

Less-than-lethal force

Juan Vega suffocated in the back of a police squadrol while officers Edward Ranzzoni and David DiSanti ate dinner and took two hours to take him to a hospital. According to police, two other officers had responded to a report that Vega was walking in traffic on West Fullerton Avenue. The officers said Vega was slurring his words and babbling in Spanish. After learning Vega lived in the vicinity of Palmer and Kedzie, the officers drove him there, but ended up calling a squadrol to transport Vega to detox because they couldn't communicate with him. Ranzzoni and DiSanti determined Vega posed a danger to himself and placed him in the back of the squadrol, where he reportedly slipped under a restraint device in the squadrol and asphyxiated. Police said the two officers were suspended without pay for 30 days over the incident. In 2002, the city agreed to settle a federal lawsuit for $1.8 million.

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Juan Vega, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources