Officer to face felony charges in Vegas police choking death

FILE - This undated file booking photo provided by the Hawaii Department of Public Safety shows Tashii Brown, known to them as Tashii Farmer-Brown. He was released from state custody in January, 2016, according to the department. The coroner in Las Vegas says a police officer's neck hold killed Brown, who also was zapped with a stun gun and punched after leading the officer on a chase through the back halls of a casino in May, 2017. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said Monday, June 5, 2017 that Tashii S. Brown's death has been ruled a homicide. (Hawaii Department of Public Safety via AP, File)

By Associated Press June 5, 2017 3 min read

LAS VEGAS (AP) – A police officer will face two felony charges for killing an unarmed man with a martial arts-style neck hold after a chase through a Las Vegas Strip casino, the Clark County sheriff announced Monday.

The officer, Kenneth Lopera, was suspended without pay and was due to be arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter and oppression under color of authority, Sheriff Joe Lombardo said minutes after the county coroner ruled that Tashii S. Brown, 40, was choked to death May 14.

Brown also was zapped with a stun gun and punched by the officer after a chase through restricted areas of The Venetian resort, police have said.

Coroner John Fudenberg said Brown was intoxicated by methamphetamine and had an enlarged heart. But he died of “asphyxia due to police restraint,” the coroner said, and the case was ruled a homicide,

Lombardo said departmental investigations are continuing, and could take a couple of months.