Civil-rights attorney Ben Crump represents Emily Proulx, the girlfriend of Erik Cantu, the unarmed San Antonio teen shot in October by an ex-SAPD officer. Credit: Michael Karlis

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include a statement from the city of San Antonio.

Top civil-rights attorney Ben Crump filed a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing San Antonio and Bexar County of using excessive force that led to the death of jail inmate Daniel Pentkowski.

The suit, filed in San Antonio, alleges that Pentkowski died on Jan. 25, 2023 while in Bexar County Jail due to force authorities used during a questionable arrest. It also accuses jailers of denying him medical care, violating his Fourteenth Amendment rights.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office maintains that Pentkowski appeared to have suffered self-inflicted injuries while he was in custody, the Express-News reports. Officials with SAPD and the sheriff’s office were unavailable for immediate comment.

“The city has not been served and there are a number of facts alleged in the complaint that will require time to review and analyze before we can provide a more substantive response,” the City Attorney’s Office said in an emailed statement.

Crump — who’s also represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd — is seeking the maximum compensation allowed under federal law and a jury trial.

Pentkowski, who was white, was one of at least 10 Bexar County jail inmates to die while in custody last year.

“The death of Daniel Pentkowski is another devastating example of the culture of violence and neglect within our justice system that creates a staggering amount of harm and loss,” Crump said in a statement. “No family should endure the pain of losing a loved one to the very system meant to protect them. The City of San Antonio and Bexar County must be held accountable for their gross indifference and repeated failures.”

The death of Pentkowski, a 53-year-old Midland man, has made West Texas headlines for months but garnered little media attention in San Antonio.

Pentkowski was visiting San Antonio for a family reunion to honor his late mother, according to the federal lawsuit. While sitting on the porch of a rented Airbnb, a San Antonio police officer arrived for a no clear reason and began questioning Pentkowski, the petition alleges.

The officer became aggressive and pinned Pentkowski to the ground, according to the legal filing. Pentkowski was later charged with retaliation, a third-degree felony, and was held on a $7,500 bond at the time of his death.

Authorities said that a cadet found Pentkowski, who had been in custody for 48 hours, on the floor of his cell in the fetal position. Despite life saving measures being performed, the West Texas man was pronounced dead when an emergency medical personnel arrived.

Pentkowski’s siblings were not notified of his death. His family maintains the Bexar County Sheriff’s office only told them of his passing after they hired an attorney to force the issue.

What’s more, Pentkowski’s siblings said the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office denied access to body-cam footage.

A Custodial Death Report conducted by the Texas Attorney General’s office ruled Pentkowski’s death was a “homicide” due to “physical restraint compression of torso following physical struggle,” complicating underlying health problems.

Bexar County has refused to provide Pentowski’s siblings with its autopsy report, according to the lawsuit.

However, an independent autopsy conducted by the Nebraska Institute of Forensic Sciences (NIFS) showed that Pentkowski’s death was the result of “Restraint, Compression, Positional asphyxia and Multiple Blunt Force Trauma of the head, torso, and extremities,” the suit alleges.

Further, NIFS ruled that the “manner of death is homicide,” the petition states.

The lawsuit alleges that Pentkowski’s death is the latest example of excessive force used by SAPD and is part of a larger trend of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office committing constitutional violations.

“From what the family does know, Mr. Pentkowski died due to the City of San Antonio and Bexar County’s pervasive acts and omissions, which were sufficiently extended and pervasive to constitute the policies of Bexar County and the City of San Antonio, respectively,” the suit states.

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This article appears in Dec 11-17, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...