The Essex County District Attorney’s office asked the public to share any videos or still photos they had taken that could be relevant as it begins an investigation into what led to the death of a 43-year-old man in police custody in Haverhill on Friday.
Francis Gigliotti, of Haverhill, “became unresponsive” while police attempted to restrain him on White Street on Friday night, according to the district attorney’s office.
Video shared by a person who identified herself as Gigliotti’s niece showed a chaotic scene with several police officers on top of Gigliotti, sirens wailing and several other bystanders nearby.
Gigliotti can be heard yelling out, “Help,” several times. At some point, Gigliotti became unresponsive and police attempted to provide him medical aid, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The district attorney’s office said it was commencing a “full investigation surrounding what led up to Mr. Gigliotti’s initial encounter with police until the time of his death.”
Police first responded to White Street when a 911 caller reported a man, now known to be Gigliotti, had fallen on the floor while leaving a building and was running in the street. Gigliotti had hit a car with his head, then ran down White Street, the district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Surveillance shows him “weaving in and out of traffic, nearly being struck several times by passing motorists,” according to the statement.
Arriving officers found Gigliotti “behaving in an erratic and belligerent manner and called for an ambulance to assess his well-being.” But before the ambulance arrived, Gigliotti fled on foot and tried to enter 124 Winter St., the address for Bradford Seafood, where police attempted to restrain him for “safety reasons.”
The district attorney’s office pledged to conduct a thorough investigation of what took place, including interviewing all responding officers and civilian witnesses. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of Gigliotti’s death.
Investigators will also review all city camera footage and other publicly available video. The district attorney’s office asked the public to share any videos or photos they had taken so a “review of any available media relative to this incident may be considered.”
Videos and photos can be submitted here.
“This office understands the importance of transparency when conducting any investigation and we are committed to updating the public as soon as we are able to do so,” the statement reads.
Gigliotti’s family and friends held a vigil for him on Saturday night outside the Haverhill restaurant.
“I haven’t even watched the video myself,” Gigliotti’s niece, Albanee, told NBC Boston. “Every time I hear the cries, I can’t. I just freak out. It’s just too much for me.”
Gigliotti’s fiancée, Michelle Rooney, said she would never forget the image of him on the ground.
“I was going to pick him up and it was only literally six minutes from the time I was talking to him until the time I seen him on the ground blue. I can never get that picture out of my head of what I saw,” Rooney told NBC.
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