I am also aware he has been arrested for the same offense in the past, I believe the count was 8 times.
My issue with this particular case is, why did the cops decide to use physical force to take him into custody in the first place?
Why take him into custody for this offense? I've not seen anything reported that he was wanted on outstanding arrest warrants.
Had he simply been obeying the law he’d be alive today. That’s the one fact that a great many people refuse to acknowledge. Same with Michael Brown and many others who have died at the hands of police.
FYI, in my youth I had a few run-ins with the law. Nothing serious or violent, but once I had a cop draw down on me. I made no sudden movements, but moved very slowly and showed him open empty hands and obeyed his every command. No shots were fired. No choke holds needed. No resultant tragic death.
In reality, what you said should be the end of the story, but here are the details that you seek.
The local shop owners were complaining that they were losing sales to this guy selling untaxed cigs on the sidewalk in front of their stores. The cops got the complaint and responded. Backup, and supervisors were called. When everyone was in place, they approached the perp. When confronted, he resisted. Now the choice is to take the law into their own hands and simply walk away, or take the guy into custody.
There was no meeting or debate, but the decision was made to take the guy in. Since he was resisting, the cop closest to him relied on his training to get the perp on the ground. Now it's true that no pillow was offered, and our man was made uncomfortable while being cuffed but we didn't see him beaten or otherwise abused. He was simply held in place until he could be restrained. The black woman supervisor maintains that every action was by the book, as do the rest of the cops and 40 or so witnesses. The fact that the perp had serious health issues not caused by the takedown was not on the radar until he stopped breathing.