A 56-year-old California man who was charged in the death of a man he put in a chokehold while breaking up a dispute on a bus was sentenced last week.
Edward Hilbert, who recently pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, was sentenced on Friday, Oct. 27, to two years’ probation in connection to the death of Anthony McGaff. In addition, he received a suspended one-year sentence in jail, which he would have to complete if he violated his terms.
His sentence stemmed from an incident on a bus in downtown San Diego on April 30, 2022. Local police said McGaff, 28, “became involved in an altercation with a female passenger,” which resulted in Hilbert getting involved and restraining him.
Minutes later, McGaff lost consciousness and was sent to a hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. During his sentencing, McGaff’s parents slammed Hilbert, whose previous defense team claimed he was helping the woman on board.
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“The problem here is this idea that you were a good Samaritan,” his father, Jack Smith, said, per NBC San Diego. “This is a joke. … You ambushed my son. You held him in a chokehold on the ground with your body weight on top of him for eight long minutes.’”
The San Diego Union-Tribune and New York Times reported his parents pursued legal action and filed a lawsuit last year. The complaint alleged that when McGaff got on the bus that day, a woman started to record him and wouldn’t stop.
McGaff’s mother told the Times that police told her McGaff knocked down the woman’s phone. She then pulled out another phone and started recording again, and that’s when he attacked her, according to the reports.
Per the Union-Tribune, that’s when Hilbert, whose body weight “significantly exceeded” McGaff’s, stepped in.
“The choking, the pleading, the questions of whether (McGaff) could breathe, and the bus driver’s refusal to stop and intervene or render assistance to (McGaff) all continued for over 8 minutes!” the filing claims, the outlet reported.
The city of San Diego and the Metropolitan Transit System are named in the lawsuit.
The incident is comparable to the death of an NYC subway performer, Jordan Neely, in May. The 30-year-old, who witnesses say was ranting on the train, was placed in a chokehold for over three minutes by US Marine veteran Daniel Penny. Penny was charged and reportedly pleaded not guilty to criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter.
His attorneys sent in a request to the judge earlier this month, asking to dismiss the case.
