Jury sides with Issaquah officers in neck-injury death

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — A jury has sided with two Issaquah police officers who were sued by the wife of a 66-year-old man.

Wangsheng Leng died after suffering a neck injury when he was detained by police investigating a 2018 domestic dispute.

A unanimous federal jury sided with officers Michael Lucht and Kylen Whittom.

Leng was hospitalized and underwent surgery for spinal cord decompression after falling limp when officers pushed him onto a couch and handcuffed him.

He died a month later.

The King County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, stating that Leng died as a result of complications from a “blunt force injury to the neck,” which “occurred in circumstances involving the use of physical restraint.”

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