Death of Ohio man who died while in police custody ruled a homicide by coroner’s office

CANTON, Ohio — 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 released its findings Monday into the death of Frank Tyson, a 53-year-old East Canton resident who died April 18 after he was left handcuffed and face down on the floor of a Canton club, telling officers he couldn’t breathe.

The preliminary autopsy report also listed heart disease and cocaine and alcohol intoxication as contributing causes. The coroner’s office also stressed that the finding does not mean a crime was committed.

Bodycam footage released by police shows Tyson resisting while handcuffed, repeatedly saying, “They’re trying to kill me” and “Call the sheriff” as he was wrestled to the ground.

Tyson, who was black, was arrested shortly after a car crash that knocked down a utility pole. Police body camera footage showed that after a passing motorist led officers to the bar, a woman opened the door and said, “Please get him out of here, right now.”

Police held Tyson down — including a knee on his back — and he immediately told officers he couldn’t breathe. Officers told Tyson he was fine, to calm down and stop struggling as he lay facedown on the carpet with his legs crossed. Police joked with bystanders and rifled through Tyson’s wallet before realizing he was in a medical emergency.

Five minutes after the bodycam footage captured Tyson saying, “I can’t breathe,” one officer asked another if Tyson had calmed down. The other responded, “He might be unconscious.”

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 in a kidnapping and robbery case. According to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, he was declared a post-release supervision violator almost immediately after his release because he failed to report to a probation officer.