{"id":374979,"date":"2026-06-25T22:21:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T22:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/374979\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T22:21:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T22:21:32","slug":"family-of-former-nfl-player-doug-martin-files-federal-civil-rights-lawsuit-after-death-in-oakland-police-custody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/374979\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of former NFL player Doug Martin files federal civil rights lawsuit after death in Oakland police custody"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">OAKLAND, Calif. &#8212; The family of former National Football League player Doug Martin has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against police officers, paramedics and the city of Oakland after their son died in police custody.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Martin, 36, died after a struggle with police following a reported break-in and mental health crisis on Oct. 18, 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Martin was a running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and, after 2018, the then-Oakland Raiders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">RELATED: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"\" dir=\"ltr\">Bodycam video shows moments leading up to ex-NFL star Doug Martin&#8217;s death in police custody<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Martin&#8217;s family said that he struggled with mental and emotional difficulties leading up to his death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">According to the wrongful death complaint filed Tuesday by the office of civil rights attorney John Burris, officers allegedly used excessive force when they restrained Martin face down and at least one officer pressed on his back as they attempted to get him under control. The family&#8217;s attorneys also allege paramedics took too long to reach the scene.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The defendants in the case are the city of Oakland, five officers, and the paramedics company Falck USA. The Oakland Police Department declined to comment. The city of Oakland could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Falck paramedics arrived over 15 minutes after the call for service,&#8221; the complaint reads. Even when they arrived, paramedics &#8220;did not promptly provide medical care,&#8221; it alleges.<\/p>\n<p>RELATED: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7news.com\/post\/doug-martin-bay-area-born-nfl-star-former-boise-state-oakland-raiders-running-back-dies-36-family-says\/18040227\/\" dir=\"ltr\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Doug Martin, former Oakland Raiders running back, dies in police custody<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">According to the complaint, officers and paramedics acted &#8220;negligently&#8221; and &#8220;wrongfully,&#8221; and the suit alleges Martin died from suffocation while being restrained by police officers and that paramedics did not provide timely care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">According to Burris, a pathologist tentatively found that the cause of death was asphyxiation.\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">More than anything, Martin&#8217;s family wants to get to the bottom of the death, Burris said.\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;There were no indications that he was having a heart attack or anything of that kind,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So what would cause him to die?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Copyright  2026 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, re-transmission or reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. Is prohibited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND, Calif. &#8212; The family of former National Football League player Doug Martin has filed a federal civil&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[151956,143,145,144],"class_list":["post-374979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-151956","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}