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Coroner: Drugs Found In Man Who Died In Police Altercation
Footage Shows 6 Officers Subduing 400-Pound Man Who Attacked Them
POSTED: 7:30 a.m. EST December 1, 2003
UPDATED: 5:07 p.m. EST December 1, 2003
CINCINNATI -- A nearly 400-pound man who died Sunday after struggling with Cincinnati police officers had drugs in his system and suffered from health problems, according to a coroner's report.
Police were called to the White Castle restaurant on Mitchell Avenue in Avondale just before 6 a.m. after employees reported a disorderly person outside the restaurant, Cincinnati TV station WLWT-TV reported.
The two officers who arrived first at the restaurant called for backup because Nathaniel Jones, 41, began to get violent, police said.
After Jones was restrained, officers realized something was wrong and called firefighters for help, police spokesman Lt. Kurt Byrd said.
Jones was taken to University Hospital, where he died a short time later, WLWT reported.
According to a statement from the Hamilton County coroner, Jones had a cocaine and PCP in his system at the time of his death.
Also, Jones had a "markedly enlarged heart, consistent with hypertensive heart disease," the coroner said.
The investigation revealed that Jones "had linear bruises on his right calf, right thigh, right buttock and right flank, but there was no evidence of transmission of force to internal organs," the coroner said.
An official cause of death has not been determined, WLWT reported.
Firefighters Called Back After Leaving:
Before police arrived at the scene, a rescue crew from the Cincinnati Fire Department arrived, according to videotape captured from an in-car camera in a police cruiser.
However, the videotape showed the rescue workers leaving during the officers' confrontation with Jones, according to WLWT.
After the scuffle subsided, the videotape showed officers wondering aloud where the paramedics had gone. An officer called for help, and the paramedics returned several minutes later, WLWT reported.
Six Officers Placed On Leave:
The two officers involved in the initial confrontation, James Pike and Baron Osterman, were placed on administrative leave. Four others officers who arrived after Pike and Osterman and began struggling with Jones -- Thomas Slade, Guy Abrams, Jay Johnstone and Joehonny Reese -- were placed on administrative leave as well.
A police cruiser camera recorded the entire confrontation on videotape. A portion of the tape showed one of the officers using his baton multiple times to try to restrain Jones.
Cincinnati police Lt. Col. Rick Janke said the amount of force used was consistent with protocol.
"Taking into consideration everything we've seen on the videotape, the officers did what they were trained to do," he said. "It was a very violent assault by a large man on two of our officers."
Placing the officers on leave is standard, but the way the officers were treated was unprofessional, according to Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police President Roger Webster.
The officers were read their rights, allowed one phone call, and permitted to talk only to their attorneys and a minister, according to Webster.
"The people who witnessed this offense were sent on their way, and our officers were sat down for eight hours," he said. "Then they're interviewed. That's wrong. That's ridiculous."
The FOP asked the police chief to give the officers a 48-hour cooling-off period, but Webster said the request was denied.
"And you wonder why they don't want to work," he said. "That's exactly why they don't want to work, because they're treated worse than the criminals they arrest, and that's crap."
Pike and Osterman suffered cuts and scrapes during the confrontation.
Jones had been in trouble with the law before. He was arrested for cocaine possession in 1998. Instead of jail time, he was sentenced to a treatment program, but he violated his probation repeatedly, according to WLWT, and was sentenced in August 1998 to one year in prison.
Mayor Defends Police Action:
Black activists say the death Sunday of Nathaniel Jones, 41, was another example of police doing little or nothing to stop deaths of black men in encounters with police in recent years. The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in April 2001 prompted three nights of rioting in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken rejected black activists' demand Monday that he force police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. to resign.
"What I saw was a 400-pound man violently attacking a police officer in a manner that put the lives of police officers at risk," Luken said after viewing the videotape, which police released to the media. "While the investigations will continue, there is nothing on those tapes to suggest that the police did anything wrong."
Luken said he agreed with the initial police assessment that the officers who struggled with Jones defended themselves as they were trained to do when attacked. The mayor has rejected previous calls by the activists for Streicher's firing or resignation.
Coroner: Drugs Found In Man Who Died In Police Altercation
Footage Shows 6 Officers Subduing 400-Pound Man Who Attacked Them
POSTED: 7:30 a.m. EST December 1, 2003
UPDATED: 5:07 p.m. EST December 1, 2003
CINCINNATI -- A nearly 400-pound man who died Sunday after struggling with Cincinnati police officers had drugs in his system and suffered from health problems, according to a coroner's report.
Police were called to the White Castle restaurant on Mitchell Avenue in Avondale just before 6 a.m. after employees reported a disorderly person outside the restaurant, Cincinnati TV station WLWT-TV reported.
The two officers who arrived first at the restaurant called for backup because Nathaniel Jones, 41, began to get violent, police said.
After Jones was restrained, officers realized something was wrong and called firefighters for help, police spokesman Lt. Kurt Byrd said.
Jones was taken to University Hospital, where he died a short time later, WLWT reported.
According to a statement from the Hamilton County coroner, Jones had a cocaine and PCP in his system at the time of his death.
Also, Jones had a "markedly enlarged heart, consistent with hypertensive heart disease," the coroner said.
The investigation revealed that Jones "had linear bruises on his right calf, right thigh, right buttock and right flank, but there was no evidence of transmission of force to internal organs," the coroner said.
An official cause of death has not been determined, WLWT reported.
Firefighters Called Back After Leaving:
Before police arrived at the scene, a rescue crew from the Cincinnati Fire Department arrived, according to videotape captured from an in-car camera in a police cruiser.
However, the videotape showed the rescue workers leaving during the officers' confrontation with Jones, according to WLWT.
After the scuffle subsided, the videotape showed officers wondering aloud where the paramedics had gone. An officer called for help, and the paramedics returned several minutes later, WLWT reported.
Six Officers Placed On Leave:
The two officers involved in the initial confrontation, James Pike and Baron Osterman, were placed on administrative leave. Four others officers who arrived after Pike and Osterman and began struggling with Jones -- Thomas Slade, Guy Abrams, Jay Johnstone and Joehonny Reese -- were placed on administrative leave as well.
A police cruiser camera recorded the entire confrontation on videotape. A portion of the tape showed one of the officers using his baton multiple times to try to restrain Jones.
Cincinnati police Lt. Col. Rick Janke said the amount of force used was consistent with protocol.
"Taking into consideration everything we've seen on the videotape, the officers did what they were trained to do," he said. "It was a very violent assault by a large man on two of our officers."
Placing the officers on leave is standard, but the way the officers were treated was unprofessional, according to Cincinnati Fraternal Order of Police President Roger Webster.
The officers were read their rights, allowed one phone call, and permitted to talk only to their attorneys and a minister, according to Webster.
"The people who witnessed this offense were sent on their way, and our officers were sat down for eight hours," he said. "Then they're interviewed. That's wrong. That's ridiculous."
The FOP asked the police chief to give the officers a 48-hour cooling-off period, but Webster said the request was denied.
"And you wonder why they don't want to work," he said. "That's exactly why they don't want to work, because they're treated worse than the criminals they arrest, and that's crap."
Pike and Osterman suffered cuts and scrapes during the confrontation.
Jones had been in trouble with the law before. He was arrested for cocaine possession in 1998. Instead of jail time, he was sentenced to a treatment program, but he violated his probation repeatedly, according to WLWT, and was sentenced in August 1998 to one year in prison.
Mayor Defends Police Action:
Black activists say the death Sunday of Nathaniel Jones, 41, was another example of police doing little or nothing to stop deaths of black men in encounters with police in recent years. The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in April 2001 prompted three nights of rioting in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken rejected black activists' demand Monday that he force police Chief Thomas Streicher Jr. to resign.
"What I saw was a 400-pound man violently attacking a police officer in a manner that put the lives of police officers at risk," Luken said after viewing the videotape, which police released to the media. "While the investigations will continue, there is nothing on those tapes to suggest that the police did anything wrong."
Luken said he agreed with the initial police assessment that the officers who struggled with Jones defended themselves as they were trained to do when attacked. The mayor has rejected previous calls by the activists for Streicher's firing or resignation.
