The Connecticut Office of Inspector General has concluded that the death of a man in the custody of the New Britain Police Department last August was accidental and unrelated to the “minimal force” officers used to take him into custody.
Inspector General Robert Devlin Jr. released his report Wednesday on the death of Marcell Lance Felix and found that there was no criminal action committed by any of the officers involved that could have contributed to his death.
“New Britain officers used minimal force on Felix for the purpose of taking him into custody for his own safety and the safety of others,” Devlin wrote. “This use of force had nothing to do with Felix’s death. The investigation has determined that Felix’s death was accidental and not the result of criminal action.”
Inspector general investigating death of man in custody of New Britain police
On Aug. 28, 2023, just after 9:30 a.m., police in New Britain responded to 120 Columbia St. on the report of a man possibly having mental difficulties.
At the scene, officers found Felix on the front porch of the residence reportedly mumbling loudly and acting erratically, Devlin wrote in his report. When Felix fell off the front porch and tried climbing back up, officers took him into custody and called for medics.
“He was in a frantic state and in an abnormal mental condition,” Devlin wrote, adding that police later found PCP in the home.
According to Devlin’s report and the previously released police body camera footage, New Britain Officer Richard Mantiglia took hold of Felix’s arm when he tried climbing back onto the porch and moved him back to ground level.
With the assistance of Officer Maxwell Lagasse, Mantiglia was able to restrain Felix and place him in handcuffs, Devlin wrote. The officers then pulled Felix from behind some bushes adjacent to the porch and brought him to the front lawn of the home.
Felix reportedly began to eat grass in the front yard and officers turned his head away from the ground, but Felix turned back before police picked him up into an upright seated position, according to Devlin’s report. He remained there until firefighters and medics arrived.
“There was no use of force or criminality associated with his death,” Devlin wrote.
Felix was taken in an ambulance to the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain. While en route to the hospital, he reportedly stopped breathing and later lost his pulse in the emergency room, the report said. He was pronounced dead at 11:09 a.m.
An autopsy performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner showed that Felix’s cause of death was from acute phencyclidine intoxication. A contributing factor was hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to Devlin’s report. The death was ruled accidental.
“The death of Marcell Lance Felix was accidental and not the result of force or criminal action,” Devlin wrote. “The Office of Inspector General will take no further action in this matter.”
