Local News In Brief : Coroner Report on Fatality
The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has concluded that “multiple injuries and methamphetamine intoxication” caused the death of a man involved in an altercation with police last month outside Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Stewart Alan Vigil, 29, of Lomita died Dec. 4 after being shot by three Taser stun guns and tackled by a swarm of police.
Police initially speculated that the drug PCP caused Vigil to become combative. Coroner’s investigators found no evidence of PCP, but the stimulant methamphetamine contributed to Vigil’s death, coroner’s spokesman Bob Dambacher said.
The incident began before dawn when police received a report of a man wandering in traffic at the intersection of Western Avenue and Carson Street near Torrance. Two officers picked up Vigil and drove him without incident to the medical center where he allegedly began to struggle outside the emergency room.
Vigil’s parents filed a $10-million lawsuit against Los Angeles police four days after the incident.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
