WICHITA, Kan. — A community task force reviewing the death of a Black teenager who was restrained for more than 30 minutes at a Kansas juvenile detention center found that an officer changed his answers on a form that otherwise would have led police to take the teen to a hospital instead of booking him into the detention center. An official who oversees admissions to the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, Jodi Tronsgard, told the task force last month that the officer initially reported that there were signs that 17-year-old Cedric Lofton needed medical attention before the officer changed his answers, The Wichita Eagle reported.
“What I learned after the intake is that the officer had presented this form and initially said yes, that there were signs of acute illness that appear to need immediate medical care. Yes, there were signs of intoxication with significant impairment in functioning,” Tronsgard told the task force on March 7. “…So, he was informed that if you answer ‘yes’ to these questions, you have to leave and take the youth for a medical or mental health release. And then, hearing that, he goes and then responds ‘no’ to these questions.”
Interim police Chief Lem Moore said he wasn’t aware that the officer had changed his answers on the form until the newspaper asked about it. He said he has ordered a preliminary review of the case to determine if it’s possible the officer falsified information.
Lofton’s foster father called authorities in September seeking help because the teenager was hallucinating. Police initially tried to persuade him to go to a mental health facility, but body camera video shows him refusing to go and then resisting when officers tried to force him.
Lofton then was taken to the detention center, where he was restrained after a struggle with staff members.
He had to be resuscitated after he was held facedown, and he died two days later.