Police Beating, Not Overdose, Killed Man, Suit Charges : Law enforcement: Parents say LAPD officers used unnecessary force in subduing their son, who lawyer concedes was acting in a menacing way.

The parents of a man who died while in police custody filed a wrongful death suit Tuesday against the city of Los Angeles, saying that their son died of blows from a policeman’s baton, not from a cocaine overdose, the official cause of death.

Tracy Mayberry, 33, apparently was on drugs and ranting about being followed when he was confronted and handcuffed by police in Hollywood early Nov. 3. According to the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, officers cornered Mayberry on Norton Avenue when he refused to cooperate with their questioning.

Officers used “unreasonable and unnecessary deadly force” by repeatedly kicking and clubbing Mayberry with nightstick blows to the head and body, and hogtied him, the suit alleges, adding that police ignored Mayberry’s pleas for medical attention and similar pleas from witnesses.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s internal investigation unit has investigated the incident, but LAPD officials would not comment on whether the officers involved acted according to department procedures in trying to subdue the 6-foot-3, 272-pound Mayberry, citing the pending litigation.

“No formal disciplinary charges have been filed in the case,” according to LAPD spokesman Fred Nixon.

The district attorney’s office also investigated the case but found no criminal culpability on the part of any involved officer.

A spokesman for the FBI in Los Angeles, John Hoos, said Tuesday that the bureau has examined the circumstances surrounding Mayberry’s death and forwarded the results to the Department of Justice in Washington for possible prosecution, a routine action in such cases.

According to Iris Johnson-Bright, a lawyer for the family, Mayberry “was pursued by police officers and he was beat to death by at least four or five officers, while others stood around and watched.”

“They beat him to death in cold blood, and everyone was there watching,” Johnson-Bright said. “People could not believe what they had seen.”

Johnson-Bright said more than 17 witnesses are expected to testify if the case goes to trial. She said the parents plan to seek a substantial amount of money. The parents, Nathan and Antrenette Mayberry of Chicago, could not be reached for comment.

Lawyers for Mayberry’s family readily acknowledged that Mayberry was acting in a menacing fashion on the day he encountered the officers, but said the department has many ways of subduing suspects--including Tasers and stun guns.

“He was bonkers on the day this happened,” said lawyer Carol Watson. “But that does not justify beating a man to death.”

It could not be determined if Mayberry had a criminal record, but Johnson-Bright said police officers had come a week before his death to handcuff and subdue him for drug intoxication. She said Mayberry had served as a bodyguard for Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole and other celebrities.

The county’s chief medical examiner-coroner has determined that Mayberry died of acute cocaine intoxication. But autopsy reports also show that Mayberry had bruises “all over the body,” including his left eyebrow and temple, chin, “left frontal region” and back.

Police officers said Mayberry was obviously intoxicated when they encountered him after he forced his way into an apartment and followed its residents into a bathroom, according to police reports. He grabbed an 8-year-old by the throat, pushed his mother into a bathtub, dropped the child and ran out into the street.

The reports say that Officer Michael Slider--the only officer specifically named in the suit--and other officers used their batons to gain control of Mayberry, hitting him on the arms and legs. While an ambulance was on its way, the reports say, Mayberry began to have trouble breathing. Police tried to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but Mayberry was pronounced dead a short while later at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, the reports say.

The suit contends that Mayberry had been asking for police help, expressed relief when officers arrived and voluntarily submitted to their custody.