CANTON, Ohio — A controversial arrest technique is again front and center, this time in the high-profile death of Frank Tyson in Canton.
Just this month, the coroner’s office ruled Tyson’s death a homicide with a tactic called prone restraint a contributing factor.
The words ‘I can’t breathe’ have been gasped not once, not twice, but several times by people in police custody in different cities and states.
On April 18, 2024, it was Tyson in Canton.
“The two cops, they just ended his life,” said Tyson’s fiancee Sibrena Jones.
Tyson’s life faded on the floor of a veterans hall. He was in handcuffs, face down on his stomach, in a controversial arrest technique called prone restraint.
The interaction between Tyson and police started when officers responded to a car accident. Officers found a power pole taken out and a car off the side of the road with a blown airbag. Witnesses told officers Tyson ran into the bar.
Canton police body camera video shows police go hands-on when Tyson knocks over a chair.
"No no no, you guys going to kill me,” said Tyson on the body cam.
The video shows a struggle as police take Tyson to the floor, and seconds later, an officer places a knee on Tyson’s back.
Tyson tells officers he can’t breathe seven times. Seven minutes passed from when Tyson was handcuffed to when officers realized something was wrong.
“Does he have a pulse? I didn’t feel one,” police said.
An officer is then seen beginning chest compressions on Tyson.
"I am shocked to tell you this is George Floyd 2.0,” Tyson family attorney Bobby DiCello said during a May 2 news conference.
Tyson's family attorney compares Tyson's death to George Floyd's case.
Tyson’s death was ruled a homicide by the Stark County Coroner’s office.
His heart and breathing suddenly stopped. The coroner’s office pointed to physical altercation and prone restraint as part of the reason why Tyson died, along with other contributing factors.
Coroner ruled Tyson's death a homicide.
Well-known policing expert and law professor Seth Stoughten finds Tyson’s death baffling in the post-George Floyd era.
“This is maybe more personal than we need to get, but I’m so sick of seeing videos like this,” Stoughten said.
News 5 Investigators asked Stoughten to watch the Canton police body camera video.
“At a minimum, you roll him over onto his side,” Stoughten said.
One of the most recognizable cases of prone restraint was George Floyd in May 2020.
However, there are several other cases just in Northeast Ohio.
One was Tanisha Anderson in November 2014. In Anderson’s case, the medical examiner ruled restrained in a prone position by police.
George Floyd's death renews memories for Tanisha Anderson's family.
In September 2019, Alex Rios died.
"You do watch him die on the video you watch him take his last independent breath."
It was a fatal five minutes.
“We have, I mean at this point, 30 years of very clear guidance in policing that says after someone is secured in handcuffs, you get them out of the prone position,” Stoughten said.
In 1995, the Department of Justice put out a bulletin for law enforcement on positional asphyxia.
It says when a suspect is prone or face down, along with other risk factors, like drugs, alcohol and obesity, it could lead to sudden death.
“You can roll him over onto his back. The point is you get the pressure off of his diaphragm and you allow his lungs to expand and contract fully.” Stoughten said.
But one doctor said studies have shown you can breathe about the same face down or on your side.
News 5 Investigators asked Dr. William Bozeman if prone restraint is dangerous.
“No,” Bozeman said.
Bozeman points to medical literature about the physiology of prone restraint. He said medical investigations tested respiratory and heart function while prone and handcuffed.
“They’ve done it after exercise, they’ve done it with weight on the back up to 225 pounds or so of weight on the back, and from a medical perspective the prone position itself is physiologically neutral it is a safe position,” Bozeman said.
News 5 Investigators asked Bozeman — what is the danger?
“Well, people do sometimes unexpectedly go into cardiac arrest, and there’s a great deal of discussion about why that happens,” Bozeman said.
In the Tyson case, the coroner’s office also pointed to coronary heart disease and obesity. Tyson also had cocaine and alcohol in his system. Similar to what the 1995 Department of Justice bulletin was referring to about risk factors.
“When you stack up all of the risk factors together it should have been very obvious that this isn’t just the everyday risk of positional asphyxia from prone restraint,” Stoughten said.
Bozeman occasionally gives lectures as a medical expert for Force Science, an independent police training company.
“What I teach the officers is to consider the whole situation and put the patient in a comfortable position if you can, and if that’s tactically appropriate,” Bozeman said.
He is also a SWAT team physician.
“We train them very carefully of don’t just assume they’re being compliant; they may have a medical emergency,” Bozeman said.
Stoughten testified in the Derek Chauvin trial. Chauvin is in prison for killing George Floyd.
“The George Floyd case to a significant extent, it was identifying the point where officers messed up and never recovered,” Stoughten said.
Stoughten said a lot of agencies banned prone restraint after George Floyd.
News 5 asked the Canton Police Department if it has a prone restraint policy. It sent us its Use of Force policy, with no mention of prone.
“Doesn’t mean anything, their pretty words, it’s time to change,” DiCello said while tearing up Canton’s Use of Force policy during the May news conference.
Last May, DiCello said it was the two officers' job to calm down the situation.
Both officers are on restricted assignment, according to Canton police.
In June, they were reassigned to complete the required certification training.
“We know what happens in situations like this. We know it has the potential to quite literally set parts of the country on fire. We need to be doing better,” Stoughten said.
News 5 Investigators also discussed training with Stoughten, who was a police officer at one point in his career and does law enforcement training.
Stoughten said officers aren’t always prepared for real-life scenarios with people using all their strength, which could lead to officers using more force than they should or making mistakes.
Canton Police said their use of force policy hasn’t been updated since News 5 Investigators first asked for a copy in May.
The policy does say that calls involving people who are extremely agitated, among other behaviors, or who require multiple officers for control, should be considered medical emergencies.
Other police agencies do have policies on positional asphyxia.
The police for Ohio State Highway Patrol says to closely monitor restrained persons to prevent positional asphyxia, which may occur when the position of the body interferes with respiration, resulting in asphyxia. The position of the body inhibits breathing because the stomach muscles, chest muscles and diaphragm are unable to function properly, and may be compounded when the person is unable to change positions, is physically impaired, overweight, semi-conscious, and/or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
