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The death of an Ohio man who died in police custody earlier this year has been ruled a homicide.
The Stark County Coroner’s Office issued its finding Monday on the death of Frank Tyson, a 53-year-old East Canton resident who died April 18 after he was handcuffed and left face down on the floor of a social club in Canton while telling officers he couldn’t breathe.
The preliminary autopsy report also listed a heart condition and cocaine and alcohol intoxication as contributing causes. The coroner’s office also stressed that its finding does not mean a crime was committed.
Bodycam video released by police showed Tyson resisted while being handcuffed and said repeatedly, “They’re trying to kill me” and “Call the sheriff,” as he was taken to the floor.
Tyson, who was Black, was taken into custody shortly after a vehicle crash that had severed a utility pole. Police body-camera footage showed that after a passing motorist directed officers to the bar, a woman opened the door and said: “Please get him out of here, now.”
Police restrained Tyson — including with a knee on his back — and he immediately told officers he could not breathe. Officers told Tyson he was fine, to calm down and to stop fighting as he was handcuffed face down with his legs crossed on the carpeted floor. Police were joking with bystanders and leafing through Tyson’s wallet before realizing he was in a medical crisis.
Five minutes after the body-camera footage recorded Tyson saying “I can’t breathe,” one officer asked another if Tyson had calmed down. The other replied, “He might be out.”
The two Canton officers involved, who are white, remain on paid administrative leave.
Tyson was released from state prison on April 6 after serving 24 years on a kidnapping and theft case and was almost immediately declared a post-release control supervision violator for failing to report to a parole officer, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
