Investigative report sheds new light on deaths of Bay Area men in police custody

RICHMOND — Ivan Gutzalenko was struggling to breathe in March 2021 as two Richmond police officers restrained him after stopping him for allegedly being intoxicated and bleeding from his hand. Gutzalenko told the officers they were hurting him, and bucked to try to get one of them off his back.

A paramedic viewed Gutzalenko’s action as aggression, and went to his ambulance to get a 5-milligram dose of midazolam, a sedative. When he returned three minutes later, Gutzalenko lay motionless.