On the other hand, he could have given them such a rough time that trying to buckle him in wasn't worth the trouble, and they decided they'd simply take their chances on this one occasion.
I still don't understand on what grounds they arrested him. Perhaps because he was behaving erratically?
You are making a “willful suspension of belief” argument.
City’s paid out millions for rough rides, but the cops who got the perp in the paddy wagon, decided that after getting him in shackles and handcuffs and dragging him to the wagon that getting him in a seatbelt would be too much trouble.
Yea, keep living in that dream world. No way, no effing way any cop in that department has not been given explicit instructions to ensure that perps are properly restrained and buckled... not a damned way in hell, not a damned way in heaven or hell that the policy to ensure folks are buckled was not part of SOP and reinforced so many times the cops were sick of hearing it.
Based on the evidence to date, the charging of those involved is the right call. No calculus where you wind up with a determination of homocide with no way you can argue justifiable and then as a DA not bring charges if you are following the evidence.
Court case and further investigation may bring about further evidence not yet known, but with a homocide determination and not a single shred of evidence to call it justifiable, charges are the right call.