Grand Jury Says Simple Steps Could Have Saved Man Killed By Police Pepper Spray

First, Fort Lauderdale police officers should have told the paramedics they pepper sprayed Raymond Sterling Jr., 21, after he ran from a traffic stop and struggled with them, rather than saying Sterling was "exhausted."

Second, the paramedics who arrived at the city jail should have used a basic tool they carry to measure the oxygen saturation in Sterling's blood. The paramedics spent six minutes with the dying man, taking his pulse and respiration and waving ammonia inhalant under his nose before leaving.

Third, paramedics should take all arrestees who have been pepper sprayed to a hospital to be checked out by a doctor before being admitted to the jail.

The Fort Lauderdale police and fire-rescue departments, which were shaken by Sterling's death, have changed their policies to say that anyone who gets pepper sprayed goes to the hospital.

The grand jury cleared the police officers and paramedics of criminal wrongdoing in December.

Four paramedics involved in the incident were fired in September after a joint police-fire investigation, but none of the police officers were disciplined.

Sterling's family said they felt let down by a grand jury that was "spoon-fed" a version of events by the police department.

They will take their civil suit to court, they said, in order to get the police and fire department to answer their lingering questions.

The incident began early in the morning on April 19 when an officer tried to stop Sterling's 1987 Buick Century for what police later said was speeding. Sterling, who had a suspended license, ran across Sunrise Boulevard and was captured less than two minutes later. He fought with police and was pepper sprayed inside a police car because he kept kicking, according to police records.

Sterling, who died because his red blood cells sickled -- or became misshapen -- after physical exertion, cutting off oxygen flow to his body, started showing signs of distress moments after being pepper sprayed.

He fell down repeatedly, needed help from two officers to walk, and said he was having difficulty breathing, but the officer who called for paramedics told the radio dispatcher that Sterling was complaining of "exhaustion."

The firefighters had little information about Sterling's true condition, though he was rolling on the ground when they arrived. They gave him a quick check and left.

Minutes later, Sterling collapsed as officers walked him to a police cruiser. The officers called the medics back but never started CPR. The medics, who responded with a second crew, pronounced Sterling dead on the scene without attempting to revive him.

Sterling's family says no one ever sorted out the discrepancies between the police officers, who said they were trying to take Sterling to the hospital because the paramedics would not, and the medics, who said they offered to transport Sterling but were told the officers would do it. They also want to know what happened in the 34 minutes from the time the officers reported having Sterling in custody to the time they arrived at the city jail, which is only about a mile away.

"I've already told [the lawyers], `Don't send me any offers coming from them. Save your paper,'" Raymond Sterling Sr. said Wednesday. "Money is not an issue. It's justice, and we will get justice."