{"id":375366,"date":"2026-06-26T03:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/375366\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T03:33:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T03:33:08","slug":"ex-nfl-player-doug-martins-family-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/375366\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-NFL player Doug Martin\u2019s family files wrongful death lawsuit in California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The parents of former <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/19\/sports\/doug-martin-former-buccaneers-running-back-dead-at-36\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL running back Doug Marti<\/a>n say excessive force by police and delayed medical care led to their son\u2019s death last year, according to a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Oakland, its police department and an ambulance company.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges the 36-year-old died as a result of restraint asphyxia by Oakland police as well as the delayed response by FALCK NORCAL paramedics after officers called for medical assistance.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.78125;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39802048\" width=\"461\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2017-10-29T140940Z_2027445839_MT1USATODAY10377494_RTRMADP_3_NFL-TAMPA-BAY-BUCCANEERS-AT-BUFFALO-BILL.jpeg\" alt=\"An NFL player in a white and dark gray jersey with the number 22.\" class=\"wp-image-39802048\"  \/>Former NFL running back Doug Martin\u2019s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>Martin\u2019s parents, Leslie and Douglas, said their son<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/20\/sports\/doug-martins-family-seeking-medical-assistance-for-him-before-death\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> was having a mental health crisis<\/a> on Oct. 18. Leslie called paramedics with Martin fleeing to a neighbor\u2019s house to hide. <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/20\/sports\/doug-martin-died-after-brief-struggle-with-police\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">An Oakland police officer<\/a> found him in the basement, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit claims police restrained Martin facedown while one or more officers pressed on his back. Officers then allegedly turned Martin on his side, and he was unresponsive. The lawsuit alleges officers believed he was \u201csleeping or was pretending to be\u201d until an officer requested medical assistance after Martin remained unconscious.<\/p>\n<p>The paramedics arrived more than 15 minutes after the call was placed and medical attention wasn\u2019t promptly given to Martin, according to the lawsuit. <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia&#8217;s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.71777344;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"39802069\" width=\"423\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2017-09-03T151936Z_87146779_MT1USATODAY10258064_RTRMADP_3_NFL-CLEVELAND-BROWNS-AT-TAMPA-BAY-BUCCANEE.jpeg\" alt=\"A football player in a Buccaneers uniform running with the ball.\" class=\"wp-image-39802069\"  \/>Martin was born in Oakland and was a high school football star in Stockton. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>Martin was born in Oakland and played his final NFL season as a member of the Raiders. He was raised in Stockton, where he played high school football. Martin made first-team All-Mountain West Conference at Boise State before he was drafted by the Buccaneers in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>Martin played seven seasons in the NFL, rushing for 5,536 yards and 30 touchdowns primarily in Tampa Bay. In 2015, the running back was a first-team All-Pro selection after rushing for the second-most yards (1,402) that season.<\/p>\n<p>Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n<p>California Post News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCaliforniaPost\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@CaliforniaPost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">TikTok<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">X<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@thecaliforniapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029Vb6a2IV1NCrL6q2AWq0E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">WhatsApp<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/company\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a><br \/>California Post Sports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/capostsports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/capostsports\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@capostsports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">TikTok<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CaliforniaPostSports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/capostsports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">X<\/a><br \/>California Post  <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Opinion<\/a> <br \/>California Post Newsletters: <a href=\"https:\/\/email.nypost.com\/#california-post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Sign up here!<\/a><br \/>California Post App: <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/california-post\/id6751343487\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Download here!<\/a><br \/>Home delivery: <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.californiapost.com\/defaultCAP\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up here!<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/california-post\/id6751343487\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><br \/><\/a>Page Six Hollywood: <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/hollywood-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Sign up here!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The parents of former NFL running back Doug Martin say excessive force by police and delayed medical care&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[12292,6424,752,266,143,145,144,127,4224],"class_list":["post-375366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-doug-martin","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-nfl","tag-northern-california","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-sports","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375366","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=375366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}