"His pupils aren't even reacting," said a female police officer watching Henry Nowak agonize for three minutes.
Henry Nowak had already suffered profound brain hypoxia when the officers finally decided to call the ambulance.
As Henry became entirely unresponsive, a female officer shone a flashlight into his eyes to check his responsiveness.
She then openly noted to her colleague, "His pupils aren't even reacting," which finally prompted them to call an ambulance.
Fixed, dilated, or unreactive pupils are a primary sign of profound brain hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain) or cardiac arrest.
This occurred all while Henry was still pinned on the ground in handcuffs.
Before checking his eyes, the police officers assumed Henry Nowak was drunk due to his sluggishness, heavy breathing, and inability to speak clearly instead of treating it as a medical emergency.