The Rome Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the death of a 27-year-old Italian young man in Barcelona on June 1, three days after being arrested in a shop near the Portal de l’Angel. During the arrest, the young man suffered a cardiac episode that required medical attention and was taken to the Hospital del Mar, where he died. The investigation in Barcelona concluded, after performing an autopsy on the body, that the young man — an Italian from Florence, whose initials are S.S. — died due to multiorgan failure linked to amphetamine use. The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has ordered a second autopsy, the results of which are not yet known. The body was not transferred to Italy until this week and the funeral was held on Thursday.
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According to the Mossos, the incident occurred around 5:50 p.m. on May 29, when the young man entered a commercial establishment where, according to the police force, he stole some clothing items. The first to intervene at the scene were the store’s own security guards, and then the Mossos d’Esquadra patrols arrived. According to the Catalan police, the officers found the young man in a state of agitation and restrained him by placing handcuffs on him, in an action that, they defend, was not related to S.S.’s death.
The Mossos d’Esquadra deny that their actions were related to the young man’s death
Due to the young man’s condition, the officers called the Servei d’Emergències Mèdiques (SEM). Once at the scene, while the SEM was attending to the young man, he suffered a cardiac arrest, according to the Mossos. The health services tried to stabilize him and performed cardiac massage before transferring him to the Hospital del Mar, where he died three days later.
The version of the deceased’s family partly differs from that given by the Mossos. According to Diego Capano, the family’s lawyer, who has spoken to various Italian media, the young man spoke with his mother on the 29th, before the arrest, and appeared “calm.” Capano claims that the video of the restraint, obtained from the store’s security cameras and in the hands of the Rome Prosecutor’s Office, shows that S.S. was immobilized face down on the ground with his hands and feet restrained for at least 40 minutes. The images and medical reports were requested by the Prosecutor’s Office on June 6 and sent to Italy a week later.
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According to the lawyer, the video shows that up to two security agents sat on top of the victim, although he does not specify whether they were store security guards or police officers. In this regard, the Mossos do not rule out that they were SEM health workers performing some restraint maneuver.
The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has ordered a second autopsy, the results of which are not yet known
The family’s lawyer’s account adds that it was not until the officers realized that the detainee had stopped breathing that they called the medical services. The resuscitation maneuvers, also recorded in the footage, lasted for 33 minutes. S.S. was taken to the Hospital del Mar, where he remained in a coma for three days until his death.
S.S.’s family traveled to Barcelona upon learning of the incident. One of his cousins, quoted by La Repubblica, states that the young man had “scratches and bruises” and that his body was “swollen.” He also denies that the victim used any kind of drugs. The young man was in Barcelona for work reasons: to shoot a music video to promote his budding singing career. He was scheduled to return to Italy on June 4.
