CNN: Family suing city of Phoenix over woman’s death

CNN is reporting that the family of a woman who died at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix is now suing the city of Phoenix for some $8 million for wrongful death.

Carol Gotbaum, 45, died in police custody last year after being detained in a fit of rage when she missed her connecting flight

She tried to escape from her handcuffs while in a holding cell and accidentally strangled herself, the network says. The family says police used unnecessary force in detaining her and did not follow its own procedures in handling people clearly disturbed.

Gotbaum was traveling to Phoenix from New York to enter a alcohol rehabilitation center. Police and Phoenix officials call the family’s lawsuit baseless.