A man from Ohio who was handcuffed and left face down on the floor of a social club last week died in police custody, and the officers involved are now under investigation. The police body camera footage released on Wednesday shows a police officer from Canton responding to a report of a traffic accident and finding Frank Tyson, a 53-year-old resident of eastern Canton, in a bar near the American Veterans club.
The officer’s body camera footage showed that after a witness directed police toward the bar, a woman asked them to remove Tyson from the premises. Police grabbed Tyson, who resisted being handcuffed and expressed that he felt they were trying to harm him. He repeatedly said, “They’re trying to kill me” and “Call the sheriff” as they took him to the ground. Officers pinned him down with a knee in his back, and he immediately told them that he couldn’t breathe.
Despite Tyson’s pleas that he couldn’t breathe, the officers reassured him that he was fine and told him to calm down. They joked with passersby before realizing that Tyson was in a medical crisis. Five minutes after hearing Tyson say “I can’t breathe,” one officer asked if he had calmed down, to which the other replied, “Maybe he is dead.”
An autopsy was performed on Tyson earlier in the week, and his remains were turned over to a funeral home. He had recently been released from state prison after serving 24 years in a kidnapping and robbery case. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office of Criminal Investigation is looking into the incident.
The use of force by the officers will be evaluated, and the decision on charges related to the incident will be made by a prosecutor or a grand jury. The mayor of Canton expressed condolences to Tyson’s family and emphasized transparency in the community. The United States Justice Department has warned against placing suspects face down due to the risk of positional asphyxiation.
An investigation by The Associated Press found that more than 1,000 people died over a decade after being subdued by non-lethal means, including face-down restraints. It is crucial for law enforcement to ensure the safety and well-being of those in their custody to prevent such tragic outcomes.