PUTNAM COUNTY, FL -- The family of Aubrey Mongal Sr. says they want some answers about their loved one's death.
Mongal died a day after being released from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office in August.
At a news conference Tuesday in Palatka, Joan Elias, Mongal's sister, said, "We want closure. We want to know what happened to this individual."
Palatka Police arrested 63-year-old Mongal in August for charges including disorderly conduct, trespassing and resisting an officer without violence.
Mongal spent a night in the Putnam County Jail and he was released the next morning. The following day, he died.
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the Palatka Police Chief say the medical examiner told them Mongal died of natural causes.
However, Mongal's family had a second, independent autopsy performed by a doctor in Orlando.
"His preliminary findings show several lacerations to the head of Mongal Sr., and multiple abrasions and contusions throughout his body," said Benjamin Crump, the family's attorney.
Mongal's family says he may have been abused by law enforcement officers while in jail, and that abuse may have been caught on tape.
They want that videotape and they are suing the Putnam County Sheriff's Office to get it.
"The chief of police personally told me that he viewed this tape and that my father was abused," Aubrey Mongal Jr. said.
However, Palatka Police Chief Gary Getchell told First Coast News Tuesday he never said that to Mongal's son.
"Mr. Mongal was asking a series of questions pertaining to what he believed to be abuse," Getchell said, "and whether he heard that or not, I think that's all his interpretation."
Lt. Johnny Greenwood with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office says by law, the agency cannot release any kind of tape right now because there's an internal investigation into Mongal's case underway.
Greenwood cited Florida statute 112.533, 2(a), which reads "A complaint filed against a law enforcement officer or correctional officer with a law enforcement agency or correctional agency and all information obtained pursuant to the investigation by the agency of the complaint is confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) (the public records statute) until the investigation ceases to be active, or until the agency head or the agency head's designee provides written notice to the officer who is the subject of the complaint, either personally or by mail, that the agency has either:
1. Concluded the investigation with a finding not to proceed with disciplinary action or to file charges; or
2. Concluded the investigation with a finding to proceed with disciplinary action or to file charges.
Greenwood said when the internal investigation is complete, then information about the case will be released.
Still Mongal's family wants answers about the man who had a pace-maker, sometimes used a walker, and who they described as gentle.
"I never saw him lift a finger toward anyone," said Osbert Elias, Mongal's brother-in-law. "I can't see him reacting in a negative way to law enforcement."
"If there is nothing to conceal, just release the tape and bring some closure," said Mongal's brother, Edgar.
Crump, the family's attorney said he believes the lacerations and bruises mentioned in the second autopsy were "contributing causes that led to the death of Aubrey Mongal Sr."
The first autopsy results from the medical examiner's office have not been released.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks