Mentally ill man dies after scuffle over 'loitering'

Keith Briscoe started his days with a Newport and a Pepsi.

Three days a week, his mother gave him a pack and some cash, and Briscoe, who had schizophrenia, trudged to a Wawa store on Cross Keys Road in Berlin to buy a soda.

Then, Briscoe, 36, would walk back to nearby Steininger Behavioral Care Services for treatment. It was his morning routine for the last three years.

On Monday, Winslow Officer Sean Richards saw Briscoe loitering outside the Wawa before 8:30 a.m. and asked him to leave, but Briscoe refused, authorities said. A struggle with officers and bystanders ended in Briscoe's death.

His family, which says Briscoe was gentle and nonviolent, is searching for answers.

"We don't want to point fingers. We're Christian people," said Tonya Holmes, 38, a cousin. "He's going to be missed by his family."

The cause of death is awaiting test results, including toxicology, said Jason Laughlin, Camden County Prosecutor's Office spokesman.

Deborah Jacobs, executive director of New Jersey's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that although she did not know the details surrounding Briscoe's case, the incident should be reviewed thoroughly.

"It's deeply troubling for all involved when a citizen dies during an interaction with police," she said Tuesday via e-mail. "Because of the special and powerful role police play in society, it's important to give such incidents tremendous scrutiny and see that they are thoroughly reviewed by objective professionals."

The Prosecutor's Office is continuing to piece together what happened, Laughlin said.

No one from the Wawa - which sits in a strip mall with a Chinese takeout, a liquor store, and other businesses - had complained about Briscoe, Laughlin said.

A Wawa manager declined to comment Tuesday.

Richards, who was on duty, crossed paths with Briscoe when Richards stopped to get a cup of coffee, said Laughlin and Richards' attorney, Timothy Quinlan.

Quinlan said Briscoe was smoking and panhandling "partially in the entrance" when Richards told him he couldn't do that. Richards told Briscoe to leave as Richards went into the Wawa, and again after Richards came out, Quinlan said.

"There are a number of civilian witnesses, and it's my understanding that the civilians all indicated that Officer Richards did nothing improper and . . . the incident happened because Mr. Briscoe created the problem," Quinlan said.

Here is what authorities said happened next:

After Briscoe refused to leave, he argued with Richards, who tried to arrest him, but Briscoe would not allow himself to be handcuffed.

He struggled with Richards. Three civilians, who were nearby, tried to help hold Briscoe down. Richards sprayed Briscoe with Mace, but he still fought.

At some point, Richards put out a call for assistance, Laughlin said.

"A number of officers responded," and at least four - including police from Winslow, Pine Hill and Berlin Borough - helped subdue Briscoe, Laughlin said.

"All he had to do was walk away," Quinlan said. "It's a tragedy."

Before a handcuffed Briscoe could be transferred to a police vehicle, he stopped breathing, police said. Officers tried to revive Briscoe, performing CPR and using a defibrillator on him until an ambulance arrived, authorities said.

Briscoe died at 9:25 a.m. at Virtua Berlin Hospital.

Phil Lubitz, associate director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New Jersey, said it was important that law enforcement officers have training to deal with people with mental illness.

"Unless you have the proper tools, police officers and people with mental illnesses can be a volatile situation," said Lubitz, whose program helps train departments in Camden, Gloucester, and Union Counties.

"Training helps them to resolve these situations in a manner where fewer officers . . . and fewer people with mental illness are injured," he said.

Briscoe's mother, Virgin, 61, said what police saw as loitering was simply her son's routine. She also doubted he was panhandling.

"He always had money," she said.

She said she usually gave her son $10 on the days that Steininger would pick him up in Atco, where he lived with his parents, and a few dollars on other days.

"If he went there three times a week, would you call it loitering?" she asked.

Russell Coombs, an associate professor at the Rutgers School of Law-Camden, said state statues do not prohibit loitering unless it is connected to drug dealing, prostitution, or interfering with voting or transportation facilities.

Municipalities, however, can set loitering laws, Coombs said.

As a youngster, Keith Briscoe was always social, an extrovert, his family said.

But the Edgewood Regional High graduate came home after his sophomore year at Norfolk State University in 1995 and mostly stayed in his room or sat on the front steps, his family said.

"He completely stopped socializing," his mother said.

He was diagnosed with schizophrenia a decade ago.

Briscoe was respectful, his family said. He would greet people but didn't strike up conversations with strangers, though he would respond, they said.

Briscoe worked two days a week with his father, Keith Robinson, who installed floors, his family said.

But the other three days a week, faithfully, he went to the Wawa.