‘I can’t breathe’: black man dies after arrest

Ohio police officers pinned suspect down after he fled crash in scene reminiscent of George Floyd killing

OHIO police have released a video showing a black man – who later died – telling officers he could not breathe as they pinned him down after he fled a car crash.

The body camera footage released on Thursday by the Canton Police Department shows officers apprehending Frank Tyson, 53.

The clip is reminiscent of the killing of George Floyd, the black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, in an incident that unleashed a wave of protests.

The 36-minute footage begins with a patrol officer coming upon a car that had struck an electrical pole and a bystander telling him that the driver of the vehicle had fled into a club for military veterans on the edge of Canton, 60 miles south of Cleveland. Officers are then seen entering the establishment, where they find Tyson standing at the bar. An altercation ensued as they attempted to grab his arms, and he repeatedly shouts “they are trying to kill me” and “call the sheriff ”.

Several officers grapple with Tyson, pinning him to the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Later, as one officer appeared to place a knee on his back near his neck for about 30 seconds, Tyson shouts several times: “I can’t breathe.”

One officer can be heard to respond: “You’re fine.” The footage shows that, after Tyson had been arrested, the officers appeared as though they had forgotten about him and even engage in some banter with other customers at the bar. One customer says: “I always wanted to see a bar fight.”

Tyson is left lying on the ground for five minutes before one officer appears to release all is not well.

“He’s out,” the officer says.

After 13 minutes, an officer attempts CPR, asking why an ambulance has not yet arrived. “Is he breathing?” asks one officer. “Does he have a pulse?” asks another. Paramedics then arrive at the scene and take Tyson out of the bar on a stretcher and into a waiting ambulance, the video shows.

He died at a local hospital, according to broadcaster WKYC. The official cause of death has not been determined.

In the aftermath of Tyson’s death, Canton Mayor William Sherer II said that two officers involved in the incident had been placed on paid administrative leave and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) had been contacted.

“I first want to send my sincere condolences to the family of Mr Tyson. My intention is for us, as the City of Canton and a police department, to be fully transparent throughout this entire process,” he said.

He added: “We will make sure we comply with all protocols to ensure BCI has what is necessary to conduct what I know will be a thorough investigation.”

Police had been seeking Tyson in connection with a car crash.

The Canton Police Department identified the officers involved in the Tyson incident as Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch.