Coroner: Man’s death after calling police was an accident

The death of a man who died in January just days after calling police for help has been ruled accidental, according to autopsy results released Tuesday by the Franklin County coroner’s office.

The autopsy report for 36-year-old Jaron Ben-Rasu Thomas, which took 16 weeks to complete, shows he died of a lack of oxygen to his brain that was caused by cardiac arrest and cocaine toxicity.

On Jan. 14, Thomas called 911 from a residence in the 3200 block of Medina Avenue in North Linden and told a dispatcher he had used cocaine and his heart was pounding. He suffered from schizophrenia and said he needed an ambulance.

The autopsy report states Thomas showed signs of excited delirium, a medical condition in which a person becomes uncontrollable. Sometimes a person exerts himself until his heart stops. Risk factors cited were men at the average age of 36, drug use including cocaine, and those with a pre-existing psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia, according to an FBI bulletin.

“It feels like I’m going to die or something,” Thomas told a dispatcher.

Columbus police reports say it sounded as though Thomas fell down a flight of stairs before opening the front door and sprinting outside. He was “violently rolling around and sporadically contorting his body,” according to a Columbus police report.

The report said he became combative with officers, who struck him twice on the right side of his face and once on his right side. It took three officers to take him into custody.

Thomas lost consciousness when paramedics arrived. They started chest compressions on him in an ambulance when his heart stopped on the way to the hospital.

He died at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital nine days later on Jan. 23.

The autopsy report also showed that his right eye was bruised, as was his torso. Four of his ribs also were fractured, according to the report.

Thomas’ family retained attorney Sean Walton and filed a complaint through police internal affairs about Thomas’ treatment by responding officers. Walton said he plans to hire a forensic pathologist to review the results.

“It’s clear they used force against Jaron unnecessarily when he called for help,” he said.

When asked about Thomas suffering from excited delirium, “We know that’s something that can be agitated by police officers,” Walton said.

Sgt. Rich Weiner, spokesman for the Columbus Division of Police, said the investigation has remained open because police were waiting for the autopsy and toxicology results.

Weiner said the division’s Critical Incident Response Team, which examines police-involved shootings and custody deaths, will first wrap up its investigation. Internal affairs investigators will look into the family’s accusations after that, he said.