SAN ANTONIO – The family of a man who died in a Bexar County jail cell in 2023 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, according to a federal lawsuit.
It was initially reported that Daniel Pentkowski, 54, died after having an apparent medical episode inside a Bexar County jail cell, according to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
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The lawsuit claims a San Antonio Police Department officer used excessive force during the arrest of Pentkowski on Jan 23, 2023, which resulted in him suffering “significant injuries” before dying.
Those injuries weren’t observed or appropriately monitored by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office when Pentkowski was in BCSO’s custody. The plaintiffs (the family and estate) believe their negligence played a role in his death, the lawsuit stated.
Background
Before his arrest, Pentkowski was staying at a rental property while visiting family to remember the passing of his mother. As he stood outside, an SAPD officer began questioning him for unknown reasons, to which he was compliant with the officer’s requests, the lawsuit stated.
Their interaction escalated when the officer tackled and pinned Pentkowski to the ground, punching him — before sitting on his back with his body weight for several minutes with his arms behind his back, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims Pentkowski suffered blunt force trauma from the officer’s excessive force.
“The officer’s techniques were excessive and unreasonable and likely were a leading cause of Mr. Pentkowski’s compression asphyxia,” the lawsuit stated.
Pentkowski was arrested and transported to the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on charges of public intoxication, retaliation, and resisting arrest. His arrest report described his condition as “good,” but the lawsuit stated that he was in an “altered state and had visible injuries from the force used by the officer.”
Pentkowski died two days later.
Pentkowski Wrongful Death Suit by rgarza on Scribd
Before the Pentkowski family learned about their brother’s death, they claimed they made various attempts to Bexar County to see him and learn more details about his arrest. However, they were denied, the lawsuit stated.
According to the lawsuit, the family were first informed of his death by an attorney — not the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Despite learning about their brother’s death, the family alleged that Bexar County refused to provide them with an official autopsy report, the lawsuit states.
This led them to seek other options, and they then obtained an independent autopsy from the Nebraska Institute of Forensic Sciences. The family then learned how he died, which was from severe blunt force trauma to multiple areas of his body — including the head, torso, and extremities — as well as compressional asphyxia, the same cause of death as George Floyd, the lawsuit claims.
Counts and sought damages
The lawsuit claims four counts were filed against the City of San Antonio and Bexar County. They claim the city violated Pentkowski’s 14th Amendment rights in three counts.
The lawsuits stated the family pointed to the policies and practices relating to SAPD officers' escalation, force, and restraint techniques, Bexar County’s jail policies regarding medical attention for detainees, and Bexar County’s failure to properly train its employees in medical evaluation and its encouragement of detainee assaults.
In another count, the family claimed the city has failed to train, supervise, hire, control, retain and discipline SAPD employees, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit added that the city and SAPD owe a duty to the general population, including themselves, to hire safe, competent officers who implement and enforce safety policies and procedures that will prevent officers from causing injuries to citizens.
The damages that Pentkowski’s family seeks are compensation for emotional distress, medical costs, funeral expenses and loss of companionship.
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