Video After The Jump
(CNN) Body camera footage of a black man's arrest in Austin, Texas, where he says "I can't breathe" multiple times is under investigation.
In body camera video released Monday by the Austin Police Department, Williamson County Sheriff's Office deputies were shown pursuing Javier Ambler, 40, just after 1 a.m. on March 28, 2019.
Ambler failed to dim his car's headlights as he drove past a deputy, according to a sheriff's department incident report. Ambler then tried to flee, leading officers on a 22-minute pursuit that ended up in the city of Austin, the report says.
Ambler collided with three fixed objects on and off the roadway, according to the office of the Texas Attorney General custodial death report.
The 14-minute body camera footage captured the moment the deputies stopped their vehicles, and when they started walking toward Ambler.
Ambler exited his car with his hands up, according to the documents obtained by CNN. He was unarmed and not intoxicated. Officers tried to handcuff Ambler, but said he resisted and pushed back on the officers as he refused to follow the verbal commands, according to Williamson County Sheriff's Office case report.
Ambler is seen in distress. As they handcuff him, he is heard saying "I have congestive heart failure."
Multiple times on the video, Ambler is also heard saying he can't breathe and that he's not resisting. Several minutes into the arrest, officers realize Ambler is unresponsive. Ambler is no longer heard on-camera.
Shortly after, officers took off Ambler's handcuffs and can be heard administering CPR compressions until medical units arrived on the scene.
Ambler's manner of death was ruled a homicide, according to the death report from the Texas Attorney General. Congestive heart failure, hypertensive cardiovascular disease associated with morbid obesity "in combination with forcible restraint" were listed as Ambler's cause of death.
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