‘Lord Jesus, help me’: Body-worn camera footage released of police interaction preceding Gaithersburg man’s death

Man was restrained face down, had ‘deep lacerations’ to his hands, according to video

January 28, 2025 6:58 p.m. | Updated: January 29, 2025 9:47 a.m.

“Señor!”

For more than two minutes, Marvin Salamanca Garcia had been restrained by several Gaithersburg police officers, face down on the lawn in front of an apartment complex on Christmas Eve night. The 35-year-old had been talking, begging for Jesus to take his spirit as his body slowly went still.

“Señor!”

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Officers tried to rouse him, yelling at Garcia as they turned him over and began searching for signs of breathing or a pulse. Despite officers performing CPR and administering an automated external defibrillator (AED), Garcia was pronounced dead two days later at an area hospital.

The police body-worn camera footage that captured the scene was released Monday by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, whose Independent Investigations Division is investigating Garcia’s death in accordance with state law. The 38-minute video, which has been posted on the division’s YouTube channel, shows footage from several of the responding officers.

The incident

Gaithersburg police were dispatched to an apartment building in the 300 block of North Summit Avenue around 10:15 p.m. Dec. 24 for a report of a “man acting strange, possibly intoxicated, being loud, and [the] caller afraid to enter the apartment with [their] family,” according to the video.

Officer Kelvin Colon, a three-year veteran, is the first officer on scene, according to the video, which shows him approaching an entrance to an apartment building. Blood is smeared on the glass door and on the other side is a man in a hooded sweatshirt, identified by authorities as Garcia, sitting on the floor with his hands covered in blood. Colon can be heard requesting that a dispatcher send fire and rescue services.

When Colon opens the door, the man lifts his hands into the air and crawls outside, according to the video. When Garcia leaves the entrance, the officer backs up and orders Garcia to “stay sitting down.” Garcia complies.

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Garcia can be heard speaking in Spanish to Colon. The officer then responds in English, “Stay there, bud.”

Colon then speaks in to his radio and says, “Both of his hands are cut wide open. He’s acting erratic. I don’t know if [the wounds] are self-inflicted.”

As Colon watches Garcia, who is lying on the ground, Garcia says in Spanish multiple times that he has the “spirit of Jesus.” Throughout the footage he makes similar utterances referring to the blood of Jesus and asking Jesus for help. As he continues to lie on the ground, Garcia, speaking in Spanish, says, “Señor bendito. Ayudame y mándame,” or “Blessed Lord. Help me and send me.”

More officers, including Cpl. Doug Seek, a nine-year veteran, arrive and Seek starts translating what Garcia says.

Seek asks Garcia, who can be seen crawling and rolling on the ground, to stay calm. “Tranquilo, señor,” Seek says in the video.

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As the officers take a couple of steps back, Garcia stands up and walks toward them, at which point four officers force him to the ground and restrain him. As the officers hold Garcia face down, he cries out, “Señor Jesus, ayudame,” or “Lord Jesus, help me.” Video from Colon’s body camera shows him restraining Garcia’s legs as other officers hold Garcia’s arms and torso down.

After about a minute and a half of restraint, Garcia stops talking and moving. After another two and half minutes an officer calls out, “Señor!” Officers then flip over Garcia.

The Associated Press reported in May that experts say the prone restraint, a tactic in which an individual is handcuffed and held facedown to the ground can be dangerous and cause death. Of more than 1,000 cases of police custody deaths in the U.S. investigated by the Associated Press, at least 740 of the cases involved prone restraint.

The footage ends after emergency responders arrive at the scene. According to authorities, Garcia died two days later at a local hospital.

The investigation

On Dec. 30, the Independent Investigations Division identified Garcia and the seven Gaithersburg police officers involved in the incident, all of whom are assigned to the department’s Operations Bureau.

The officers include Colon and Seek, as well as Sgt. Evan Milano, an 11-year veteran; William Diggons, a seven-year veteran; Nick Ozkayan, a four-year veteran; and Anna Reckley and Jaime Flores-Rios, both with one year of service, according to the attorney general’s office.

In accordance with Maryland law, the division is charged with investigating “police-involved incidents that result in the death of individuals or injuries likely to result in death,” according to the attorney general’s office. Investigations focus on the potential criminal culpability of the officers involved in the incident. 

Gaithersburg police said in a December statement that “officers recognized the man required medical treatment” after he got up and walked away from the apartment building. The statement said the officers held the man while providing “life-saving measures,” including the use of an AED.

The release of the footage came after a one-day delay, due to the need for more time by the division to make redactions to protect the privacy of uninvolved individuals and “to allow parties to view the video before it is released to the public,” the release said. The actions are required under the division’s protocols.

Generally, the division will release the body-worn camera footage from the responding officers within 20 business days of the incident, according to the release. Delays in the release of the footage of more than 20 days may occur for a variety of reasons such as investigators needing more time to complete witness interviews, technical delays to shield the identity of witnesses and allowing family members to view the video prior to its public release.

Following the release of the footage, the Independent Investigations Division continues to investigate the in-custody death, the attorney general’s office said in a statement Monday. The division’s investigation focuses on the potential criminal culpability of the officers involved in the incident. 

When the investigation is complete, the division will announce if the officers involved in the incident will be charged.

The Gaithersburg police department did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s email request for comment Tuesday regarding the release of the body camera footage.

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