The parents of a man who died while in Alexandria city police custody last year filed a federal lawsuit against the city and arresting officers Thursday, accusing them of failing to provide proper medical attention to their son.
Allan Tucker II died while in the back of a police car last August after being arrested on suspicion of public intoxication. The lawsuit alleges the two officers who arrested him “acted with reckless disregard” for Tucker’s safety by failing to seek medical care despite evidence he had consumed drugs and was at risk of experiencing medical complications. It also claims the city of Alexandria did not properly train police officers how to respond to detainees who need medical attention.
The federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on what would have been Tucker’s 34th birthday, seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
The city of Alexandria and the Alexandria Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trending
On Aug. 15, 2025, Tucker was knocking on doors throughout his apartment building under the influence of drugs, hallucinating and experiencing extreme stress, the lawsuit says. His family was among those who called the police in an attempt to get Tucker to a hospital.
Once he had been detained, officers denied Tucker’s pleas to be taken to a hospital and instead drove straight to the Alexandria Adult Detention Center, passing a hospital on the way, according to an internal audit of the incident released this summer.
Officers left Tucker handcuffed in the back of an empty police car outside the detention center for 40 minutes during a shift change at the jail and occasionally checked on him. He died lying in the back of the car with his hands cuffed behind his back, the lawsuit says.
Tucker’s intake and medical screening were delayed, according to the audit, which also found that officers violated a department policy that police must give medical care to detainees who request it.
Virginia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Tucker’s death accidental as a result of “cocaine and cocaethylene intoxication.” Cocaethylene is a by-product produced when cocaine and alcohol are used together.
The Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney previously decided not to pursue criminal charges against the police officers involved, saying they “did not use or attempt to use force likely to cause death or serious bodily injury” at any point while Tucker was in custody. The commonwealth’s attorney only determines whether a crime was committed and does not hold any standing in civil lawsuits like the one filed by Tucker’s family.
An investigation conducted by the Northern Virginia Critical Incident Response Team this year of the Alexandria Police Department and the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office found no criminal wrongdoing during the incident, according to the sheriff’s office. The Critical Incident Response Team is a coalition of law enforcement agencies from across the region.
The Sheriff’s Office, which operates the detention center, also conducted its own internal investigation and found no violation of policy or procedure. The department declined to release the investigation publicly.
Author
