PHOENIX (Map, News) - The family of a New York woman who died in police custody at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city, accusing officers of using excessive force and contributing to her death.

Carol Anne Gotbaum's family criticized police following her Sept. 28 death in an airport holding cell, and their lawsuit claims that officers failed to follow department policies that would have kept her safe.

"If they followed their policies, Carol would be alive today," family lawyer Michael Manning said.

Gotbaum, step-daughter-in-law of New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, was headed to an alcohol rehabilitation program in Tucson on the day she died. She was upset after missing her connecting flight, and police stopped her as she wandered through the terminal screaming "I'm not a terrorist!"

Manning didn't say in the lawsuit how much money the family wanted from the police department, but he filed an $8 million wrongful-death claim against the city in March. The suit was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court.

Police spokesman Joel Tranter wouldn't comment about the lawsuit, but the department has previously rejected claims that it's responsible for Gotbaum's death.

Stephen Craig, a lawyer for Phoenix police, criticized Gotbaum's family for blaming police in a March 26 letter to the family's lawyers.

In the letter, Craig pointed out that the family knew of Gotbaum's fragile mental state and her problems with alcohol. Still, Craig said, nobody accompanied her to the treatment program in Arizona.

"The thrust of the Gotbaum family claim is that the city of Phoenix police officers should have been more supportive than Carol's own husband, more knowledgeable than her own family, and should somehow have known that she suffered from a private condition that she deliberately hid from the public."

He added that Phoenix police made almost 4,500 arrests for disorderly conduct, loud noise and drinking last year.

"Is there anyone seriously suggesting that the officers should place a 24-hour suicide watch on each 'drunk and disorderly' suspect they arrest? That they should put their arms around their shoulders, sit them down, and give them some attention?" Craig wrote. "Or is this treatment only for the wealthy and politically influential?"

Gotbaum, 45, left her family in New York to seek help with drinking problem. She arrived in Phoenix alone on Sept. 28, and headed to a connecting flight to Tucson.

According to the lawsuit, she didn't make her connection in time and was bumped from the flight. She started drinking at the terminal and called her husband. When she was denied from boarding a second flight to Tucson, Gotbaum became distraught.

Officers stopped her, took her to the ground, handcuffed her, and then shackled her to a bench in a terminal holding cell.

She was later found dead with her hands up near her neck. An autopsy concluded Gotbaum accidentally hanged herself on her shackles.

The lawsuit contends that police failed to follow a number of policies during the arrest, including requirements to:

-ask for medical attention for people believed to be sick or injured;

-keep mentally or physically impaired prisoners in sight at all times;

-use reasonable force when detaining people.

"They knew she was mentally and physically disabled" Manning said, "yet they took her to the ground, tackled her, handcuffed her, shackled her, and never during this episode did they call for medical input."

In addition to the officers involved, the lawsuit also names the city of Phoenix and Police Chief Jack Harris. It says the city and the police department has been "deliberately and callously indifferent to the care and safety of citizens" by allowing officers to be indifferent to people with medical conditions.

Comments from Examiner Readers

12:32 PM MST on Thu., Mar. 27, 2008 re: "Phoenix Rejects $8M Airport Death Claim"

M.S. Jackson said:
Guess what folks, the security personnel at airports are on high alert! There was a small fire and some bulding damage as a result of a little bitty highjacking on September 11 2001 in NYC. This is beacuse airport security was letting anyone and everyone do whatever the heck they pleased. Of course everyone screamed about the lax securitySome 7 year old wisdom for those too self righteous and numbskull-ish to already know: don't try to pull any nonsense at the airport as you will be locked up immediately, regardless of how helpless you might be beneath all the drug and alcohol driven violence you are displaying at the airport. And, if you do get arrested and are not too silly to think; don't wrap your handcuffs around your neck attempting to escape. This tends to cause strangulation when you fall down and go boom...

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6:06 AM MST on Tue., Nov. 13, 2007 re: "Doc: Police Helped Bring Airport Death"

DaveH said:
Dr. Cyril Wecht agreed with a medical examiner's earlier report that an intoxicated Carol Anne Gotbaum accidentally strangled herself on her shackles in a holding room at Sky Harbor International Airport on Sept. 28. But Wecht also said officers roughed up the 45-year-old mother of three, who was flying from New York to an alcohol treatment center in Tucson, and said they should have watched her as she sat in the holding room alone, screaming DR CYRIL WECHT..."LIAR FOR HIRE". Attorneys refer to them as "Expert Witnesses".

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6:21 PM MST on Sat., Oct. 13, 2007 re: "Police: Husband called after wife had died at Phoenix airport"

Who's to Blame? said:
Lots of possibilities here...First the individual, if she was supposedly not drinking, and was in her "right" mind, then no one had any reason to believe she would react with such extreme. Second, the husband...He knew she was suicidal but didn't dial 911. Sounds like he knew she had the propensity to act irrationally. When they purchased the tickets why didn't they let someone know that she had a delicate medical condition so that if something went wrong they could respond appropriately. I'll bet you the airport would have told them no can do if they knew she was a depressed, alcoholic who had tendencies toward suicidal ideation. Psychiatry: Why didn't she get evaluated for making such a long trip alone - this was obviously a very stressed woman before she hit the airport. The arrestors: ok so they do APPEAR to at times jump the gun and detain before asking questions...But they have a right to keep themselves safe, then talk...Did they know she was suicidal...no

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1:14 PM MST on Wed., Oct. 10, 2007 re: "Husband of woman who died at Phx airport said wife was suicidal"

Examiner Reader said:
Why has no one asked the husband of this woman why if she was so unstable & depressed did he not go with her to get help for her alcoholism? Maybe he shoild stop blaming other people for not handling his wife properly when he should ask himself if he had gone with her would she still be alive today?

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7:13 PM MST on Mon., Oct. 8, 2007 re: "Woman Who Died at Airport Mourned in NYC"

Examiner Reader said:
What happened to all the earlier comments - where did they go?

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8:35 AM MST on Mon., Oct. 8, 2007 re: "Woman Who Died at Airport Mourned in NYC"

Another "Police assisted" suicide said:
Someone ready for treatment is always fragile and to be treated as a terrorist by police is what we are paying for not sane humane medical care. Exactly what the mentally ill face every day from public agencies on the street and in public areas. I wish Rush would have been treated the same when he went in for hillbilly heroin treatment.

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8:21 AM MST on Mon., Oct. 8, 2007 re: "Lawyer: Woman who died at airport was deeply upset before arrest"

Examiner Reader said:
The family should forget about getting anything by suing anybody. They are all government agencies, and they will protect each other. Something called "Soverign Immunity".
Still, I think the cops killed her deliberately. They knew what they were doing with pain holds and manuvers, and are so good at it that no one will ever be able to prove it. They were making an example of her as to what happens when anyone resists authority in an airport. It is just like what happens if you resist a cop on athe street or on a roadside stop. You probably will be shot dead.

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7:12 AM MST on Mon., Oct. 8, 2007 re: "Woman Who Died at Airport Mourned in NYC"

Examiner Reader said:
Police do tend to over-react. Whether its their training, established procedures or whatever, their first instinct seems to grab, arrest and subdue. The video shows a cop suddenly lunging at the woman, and her suddenly backing up. This woman may have been noisy but she was not armed and was no threat to anyone. Why not let her vent? And what is this shackled in chains bit? Handcuffs are not enough anymore? I am also getting very tired of hearing the standard, empty cop-type excuses of "standard procedure" and "established methods" and such tripe. I also agree with a post earlier from a day or so ago - all the officials at airports are on trip wire alert. Laugh at the wrong time, get angry and yell, and the next thing you know you could be dead in a holding cell. Really, "do not fly" becomes a real option to consider.

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10:22 AM MST on Sun., Oct. 7, 2007 re: "Lawyer: Woman who died at airport was deeply upset before arrest"

Examiner Reader said:
Yes. Sue those people who took the husband's calls. Sue them for all they have, even their back teeth. And sue the airport, too, if they are employed by the airport. Certainly, sue the police who left a hysterical woman alone for gross negligence causing death. It's only when people lose their jobs and have to pay big money out of their own pockets that those responsible will smarten up and start to listen.

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10:19 AM MST on Sun., Oct. 7, 2007 re: "Lawyer: Woman who died at airport was deeply upset before arrest"

Examiner Reader said:
Do not fly! Offcials at airports are on hair-trigger and nervous alert. Airlines cannot accomodate passengers because of all the security concerns. Lose your temper, yell and shout, "vent a bit" and you may be arrested by uniformed goons, dragged away screaming to die unobserved in a holding cell. Do not fly.

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