Spanish authorities are investigating an off-duty police officer after a suspected thief died from asphyxiation while being restrained in a suburb of Madrid, officials reported Thursday.
The incident occurred overnight Tuesday to Wednesday in Torrejon de Ardoz, east of Madrid, where a municipal police officer pursued and detained a man accused of stealing his phone, according to a National Police spokesperson.
Video footage circulating in Spanish media shows the officer, dressed in plain clothes, holding the suspect on the ground with his arm around the man’s neck while waiting for on-duty police to arrive. Passersby can be heard urging the officer to loosen his grip.
“You’re going to suffocate him, man. Let go of his neck,” one bystander is heard pleading.
Another adds, “He’s not going anywhere. Just release him.”
When official police arrived, the suspect was unresponsive. Emergency teams attempted resuscitation for 30 minutes but were unsuccessful, with the man later confirmed dead from asphyxiation, emergency services stated on social platform X.
Authorities are awaiting preliminary autopsy results to confirm the exact cause of death.
The case has sparked condemnation from left-wing groups in the Madrid region, governed by the conservative Popular Party. Mas Madrid, a left-wing political party, called for a probe into what it described as a potential “racist police killing” of a North African man.
Local activists have organised a protest in Torrejon scheduled for Saturday, denouncing the event as “a racist killing by police.”
A judge released the unnamed officer Thursday, imposing conditions including surrendering his passport and weekly reporting, as he faces investigation for negligent homicide, the Madrid High Court of Justice said.
