Now it is known that 24-year old David de los Santos most likely had suffered a mental health crisis. He then fell prey to the unwritten tough-against-crime culture and Police brutality that led to his spending three days in hell until he was pronounced dead.
De los Santos was arrested by the Police at Agora Mall after a store clerk felt threatened by statements he had made. He was detained and around 7pm sent to Naco Police detachment where he suffered major injuries. It is unclear which were delivered by the Police, which by fellow cell inmates, and even which during the transfer by 911 unit and during his stay at the Moscoso Puello hospital where he was kept with a police custody. The Police delayed in telling the family he had been taken to the Moscoso Puello. De los Santos was never allowed the mandatory call home.
On the third day of his arrest, a friend and his sister found him in the Emergency Room with death-threatening injuries. The family took him to the Dario Contreras Trauma Hospital where he died in the intensive care unit.
On Monday, 9 May 2022, Alicia Ortega presented a disturbing investigative report on how medical negligence and delays in his receiving treatment contributed to his not surviving the blows he had received while handcuffed and in custody. The Police reports did not indicate he had been mistreated at the police station and he was treated as a criminal at the Moscoso Puello hospital where he was assigned a Police custody, the TV report reveals. Ortega interviewed the family that explained he had left his job in a call center and instead wandered through the mall that was located in front of where he worked.
Dr. Julio Israel Chestaro Bretón, president of the Dominican Society of Psychiatry, says that De los Santos instead of being taken to the Police should have been sent to a hospital with a specialized mental health, as reported by journalist Altagracia Ortiz in Hoy newspaper.
Dr. Chestaro Breton said that society is very cruel to the mentally ill because even doctors are unaware of the impact of this disease. He analyzed how the Police officers and public hospital dealt with 24-year old David de los Santos.
Dr. Chestaro Breton says it is apparent that De los Santos was delirious to tell by the videos he has seen on television with the last hours of the life of De los Santos.
He said people do not understand how a person is fine one moment and the next time says incoherent things, but that happens with mental health disturbances.
He said the place for De los Santos was a hospital mental health crisis intervention unit, not the police detachment.
He said Dominican society believes that the mentally ill are violent, but data everywhere makes it clear that the most violent acts are committed by “normal” people.
One video shows how security officers scoff at the young De los Santos when he begins to say incoherent expressions, said the professional.
Dr. Chestero Breton said that there was no empathy whatsoever in those who accompanied De los Santos during his last hours. On the contrary, these had a mocking and inhuman treatment. The normal behavior of people should be to protect those that are most vulnerable,” he said.
Read more in Spanish:
Hoy
El Informe con Alicia Ortega
Diario Libre
10 May 2022