Officers suspended after death of homeless man
(LaPresse) Three police officers from Tempe, Arizona were suspended following the May 28th drowning of a homeless man in an artificial lake in the city. Thirty-four year old Sean Bickings died after he dove into the lake to evade police, who were responding to a domestic violence call, allegedly involving Bicking and his companion.
Bickings climbed a fence and dove into the lake to evade capture after responding officers found he had three outstanding warrants Tempe police released a video from the bodycam of one of the officers involved in the incident, which took place on at dawn on May 28th. Bickings started swimming, but sunk to the bottom, and none of the officers intervened to rescue him.
Only one person, identified in the report as a witness, attempted to dive in to help Bickings. A fire department rescue team recovered Bickings’ body and pronounced him dead. Tempe officials asked the Arizona Department of Public Safety to investigate the police response to the drowning.
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