Los Angeles to pay $1.35 million to mother of driver who died in police custody

[April 01, 2015]  (Reuters) - The city of Los Angeles will pay $1.35 million to the mother of a man who died of an asthma attack while in police custody, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Jorge Azucena, 26, was arrested in 2013 for running a red light, the newspaper said. He died less than an hour later, after telling officers he was having trouble breathing and that he had asthma, the newspaper reported.

A subsequent investigation by the police department and the inspector general of the Los Angeles Police Commission found that officers as well as jail personnel ignored his requests for assistance, the newspaper reported.

Azucena's mother, Juana Garcia, sued the city, leading to the settlement announced Tuesday. Azucena's children are also suing, the newspaper said.

(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein in Sacramento; Editing by Michael Perry)

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