A 49-year-old unarmed man died in police custody Friday when a police officer took the man to the ground while arresting him for having an open container of alcohol, officials and witnesses said. Sammy Lee Evans was pronounced dead at Shands Jacksonville hospital about an hour after the 1:30 a.m. arrest. Police said Evans was struggling with the Officer Kaleb Underwood and hit his head on the ground as he resisted arrest. After Evans was arrested he became unresponsive and paramedics were called, the police report said. Witnesses said Evans had complained that his handcuffs were too tight, then the officer slammed him to the ground. "I don't think you should kill a man about an open beer," Barney Evans, the man's brother, told The Florida Times-Union.Evans and two other men were standing near his house early Friday when police arrested them. One of the men, Keith "Babyface" Stafford, 33, said they had not yet opened their cans of beer when they were handcuffed. He said Evans didn't struggle, but complained his handcuffs were too tight just before the officer took him to the ground. Then Stafford said he heard a sickening crack. "You never heard a sound like this," Stafford said. "When they flipped him over, they knew something was wrong." Keith Stafford says he was hand cuffed along with Evans, and says Evans did not resist arrest. "Police slammed him on the ground," said Stafford. The family of Evans, who is black, asked the NAACP for help and said they believe their loved one was the victim of both police brutality and racial profiling by a white police officer. Local NAACP officials planned to meet with Sheriff John Rutherford next week. [more] and [more] and [more]
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