Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

California Governor Candidate Stirs Outrage With Auschwitz ‘Unemployment Plan’ Post

2 hours ago

Gold Price to Stay Above $3,000/Oz as Flight to Safety Endures

4 hours ago

Trump Warns Iran That Its Nuclear Sites Could Be Bombed Again

4 hours ago

Israel Announces Daily Pauses in Gaza Fighting as Aid Airdrops Begin

1 day ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

2 days ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

2 days ago

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

3 days ago

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

3 days ago
Photos Fuel Concerns Over in-Custody Death of La. Black Man
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
September 18, 2020

Share

Graphic photos that surfaced online this week appear to show deep bruises on the face of a Black man who died following a police chase in Louisiana last year, raising new questions about whether his injuries were caused by the crash that ended the chase or an ensuing struggle with state troopers.

Separately, the family of 49-year-old Ronald Greene released images of the SUV involved in the May 2019 crash — showing that the vehicle appeared to have sustained only minor damage to its driver’s side.

The juxtaposition fueled calls for State Police to release body-camera footage of the chase and what the agency recently acknowledged was a “struggle” to take Greene into custody after he drove off the road in rural northern Louisiana near Monroe. State Police have declined to release the video or comment on the photos due to ongoing investigations of Greene’s death.

“These photos are atrocious,” said Eugene W. Collins, president of the Baton Rouge branch of the NAACP, who posted images of Greene’s body on his Facebook page. “We have to believe that, from Day One, the Louisiana State Police were not honest with the public.”

The two graphic photos — which appear to have been taken in a medical setting and show apparent bruises and cuts to Greene’s face and scalp — had previously been shared on social media by his family. Attorneys for Greene’s family say it was not immediately clear where the photos came from but that they were consistent with the injuries identified in an independent autopsy they commissioned. Portions of it provided to The Associated Press describe “blunt force injuries to the head/face; facial lacerations, abrasions, contusions” and multiple “scalp lacerations.”

Family members of Ronald Greene listen to speakers as demonstrators gather for the March on Washington, Friday Aug. 28, 2020, in Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool via AP)

The State Police Have Offered No Public Accounting of What Caused Greene’s Death

Greene’s death, which the AP reported this week is now under federal investigation, has drawn new attention in recent months amid a national reckoning about racial inequality and police misconduct. Greene’s family filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit in May alleging troopers “brutalized” Greene, used a stun gun on him three times and “left him beaten, bloodied and in cardiac arrest” before covering up his actual cause of death.

While more than a year has passed since the crash, the State Police have offered no public accounting of what caused Greene’s death. A single-page police report released by the agency says the May 10, 2019, police pursuit ended when Greene crashed his vehicle.

“Greene was taken into custody after resisting arrest and a struggle with Troopers,” the report says, adding Greene “became unresponsive” and died on the way to a local hospital.

A crash report obtained by the AP says Greene failed to stop for an unspecified traffic violation and later drove off the road and into a ditch, striking a mailbox and a culvert. The vehicle later “struck a shrub/tree next to a private drive,” the report says.

The crash report — which State Police say is now itself part of a criminal investigation — says Greene was not wearing a seat belt and does not mention any use of force by troopers.

Greene’s family has said the authorities initially told them Greene died in the crash, but they began questioning that narrative after examining his body and the relatively minor damage to the vehicle.

Greene’s Death Was Ruled Accidental and Attributed to Cardiac Arrest

“We were told that he died in a high-speed chase of head injuries after crashing into a tree,” Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, told the AP. “There was no major damage to the car.”

The family’s lawsuit says that Greene was taken to a nearby hospital and quotes an emergency room doctor who says law enforcement told him that Greene had been “involved in a fight” after the chase.

Greene’s death was ruled accidental and attributed to cardiac arrest, said Renee Smith, the Union Parish coroner who was not in office when that determination was made. Smith said her office’s file on Greene attributed his death to a car crash and makes no mention of a struggle with State Police.

Local prosecutors in Union Parish decided not to bring any charges against the responding troopers but referred the case to the U.S. Justice Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Shreveport confirmed the ongoing federal investigation but hasn’t commented on its status.

The State Police, in an unusual move, opened an internal investigation into Greene’s death on Aug. 25 — 474 days after the crash.

The agency also recently placed on paid leave Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth, one of six troopers who responded to the crash site. That action was taken Sept. 9 — the same day the AP submitted a public records request for State Police documents related to the case. It was not clear whether Hollingsworth had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Wildfire Advisory Issued Near Lake Kaweah

DON'T MISS

Spirit Airlines to Furlough 270 Pilots, Demote 140 More on Downsized Schedule

DON'T MISS

Fresno’s Mission Thrift Has Its Third Fire in Recent Weeks

DON'T MISS

Multiple People Shot in Nevada Casino, AP Reports

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

DON'T MISS

US Judge Blocks Trump-Backed Medicaid Cuts to Planned Parenthood

DON'T MISS

Thailand and Cambodia Approve Ceasefire After Five-Day Border Battle

DON'T MISS

Madera County Deputies Searching for Stolen $300K Caterpillar Grader

DON'T MISS

UN Meets to Urge Support for Two-State Solution but US, Israel Boycott

DON'T MISS

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Barbie Nicole Hall

UP NEXT

US Judge Blocks Trump-Backed Medicaid Cuts to Planned Parenthood

UP NEXT

Trump Asks for Swift Deposition of Murdoch in Epstein Defamation Case

UP NEXT

Democratic North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper Launches US Senate Bid

UP NEXT

3 Men Who Disappeared While Fishing in Mississippi River Are Found Dead

UP NEXT

Trump Warns Iran That Its Nuclear Sites Could Be Bombed Again

UP NEXT

Trump, EU’s Von Der Leyen to Meet on Sunday to Clinch Trade Deal

UP NEXT

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

UP NEXT

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

UP NEXT

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

UP NEXT

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

Multiple People Shot in Nevada Casino, AP Reports

1 hour ago

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

1 hour ago

US Judge Blocks Trump-Backed Medicaid Cuts to Planned Parenthood

2 hours ago

Thailand and Cambodia Approve Ceasefire After Five-Day Border Battle

2 hours ago

Madera County Deputies Searching for Stolen $300K Caterpillar Grader

2 hours ago

UN Meets to Urge Support for Two-State Solution but US, Israel Boycott

2 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Barbie Nicole Hall

2 hours ago

California Governor Candidate Stirs Outrage With Auschwitz ‘Unemployment Plan’ Post

2 hours ago

California May Soon Ban Selling New Glocks Like Kamala Harris Owns

2 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Searching for Two Armed Suspects After Terra Bella Carjacking

3 hours ago

Tulare County Wildfire Advisory Issued Near Lake Kaweah

Fire officials are monitoring a wildland fire near Lake Kaweah and issued an incident advisory Monday for zone TLC-E084 in Tulare County. Th...

8 minutes ago

Fire officials issued an advisory Monday for a wildland fire near Lake Kaweah in Tulare County, urging residents in zone TLC-E084 to stay informed, though no evacuation order is in place. (Genasys)
8 minutes ago

Tulare County Wildfire Advisory Issued Near Lake Kaweah

A Spirit commercial airliner prepares to land at San Diego International Airport in San Diego, California, U.S., January 18, 2024. (Reuters File)
18 minutes ago

Spirit Airlines to Furlough 270 Pilots, Demote 140 More on Downsized Schedule

Fresno firefighters responded to a third fire in recent weeks at the Fresno Mission on Sunday, July 27, 2025, with no injuries reported and the cause still under investigation. (Google Maps)
42 minutes ago

Fresno’s Mission Thrift Has Its Third Fire in Recent Weeks

Photo of caution tape
1 hour ago

Multiple People Shot in Nevada Casino, AP Reports

Displaced Palestinians who have not received humanitarian aid gather as they survive on leftover food, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
1 hour ago

Trump Says Many Are Starving in Gaza, Vows to Set up Food Centers

Pro-planned parenthood and pro-abortion activists demonstrate after the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for South Carolina to strip Planned Parenthood of funding under the Medicaid health insurance program in a ruling that bolsters efforts by Republican-led states to deprive the reproductive healthcare and abortion provider of public money, outside the court in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 26, 2025. (Reuters File)
2 hours ago

US Judge Blocks Trump-Backed Medicaid Cuts to Planned Parenthood

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim looks on as Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thailand's acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai take part in mediation talks on the Thailand–Cambodia border conflict, in Putrajaya, Malaysia July 28, 2025.
2 hours ago

Thailand and Cambodia Approve Ceasefire After Five-Day Border Battle

Authorities in Madera County are searching for a stolen Caterpillar motor grader ( similar to the one pictured) worth $300,000 that was taken from a work site late Sunday, July 27, 2025, night. (Madera County SO)
2 hours ago

Madera County Deputies Searching for Stolen $300K Caterpillar Grader

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend