Man on life support a week after restaurant scuffle with Detroit Police officer

Detroit — A 70-year-old man remained on life support Friday, a week after an incident in a Midtown restaurant in which a Detroit police officer reportedly punched the patron during a scuffle, causing him to fall and hit his head on the floor, attorneys for the man said.

The officer involved in the Sept. 1 incident was suspended the next day after police officials reviewed body camera footage of the fight that started when restaurant staff called police to report that the man, Daryl Vance, was intoxicated and causing a disturbance.

Detroit Police Chief James White said in a statement two days after the incident that his decision to suspend the officer "was influenced by concerns that, at the very least, the officer did not adequately de-escalate or disengage from the situation."

James Harrington, managing partner at Fieger Law, said in a Friday press release that the firm had been retained by Vance's family and planned to file a lawsuit.

"Vance remains on life support due to the injuries sustained from the police officer's actions," Harrington said. "The way this situation escalated is unconscionable and now a man's life hangs in the balance due to the irresponsible actions of the Detroit Police Department. We are working to obtain all the evidence to get justice for Daryl Vance and will be filing a lawsuit against those responsible."

According to White, the incident happened at about 6:50 p.m., when an officer from the department's Downtown Services Section responded to an emergency call from a restaurant employee.

"In the course of his response, the officer encountered an individual in his 70s, who appeared to be in an intoxicated state," White said. "Video downloaded from the officer's body-worn camera ... shows that the officer attempted on several occasions to ask and then direct the individual causing the disturbance to leave the area and he refused to comply.

"In the video, it appears to show the individual strike the officer on the head and the officer responds by striking the individual in the area of the jaw," White said. "This resulted in the individual falling and likely striking his head on the ground."

White said he suspended the officer the day after the incident and ordered parallel investigations by by the Homicide Task Force, led by Michigan State Police, and DPD's Force Investigation Unit.

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