MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The sheriff’s office has released new information after a 25-year-old man died in jail custody in March.
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News Center 7’s Mason Fletcher is following this story. He will have the latest LIVE on News Center 7 at 11.
News Center 7 previously reported that Christian Black, 25, of Zanesville died on March 26.
Preliminary findings suggest that Black likely died of positional asphyxia, according to a media release from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Positional asphyxia happens when someone’s position prevents the person from breathing adequately.
After getting this information, Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said he placed all ten employees involved in Black’s restraint on paid administrative leave.
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Black had been booked into the Montgomery County after police said he crashed a car that had been reported stolen from Beavercreek and then jumped a fence and swam across a pond in an attempt to escape.
A Beavercreek police report indicated a 44-year-old woman had her car taken in a violent incident in the business parking lot across from The Greene. They were exploring robbery and attempted abduction charges.
The next day, correctional staff found Black face down in his cell. The staff asked him questions, but he wouldn’t respond. They then called the jail’s medical staff.
When the cell door opened, Black allegedly tried to fight correction officers in an attempt to escape his cell. Staff used force, including a taser, to subdue him.
Later, they said he repeatedly banged his head against his cell door and again tried to fight staff, prompting them to tase and use pepper spray on him before putting him in a restraint chair.
An ambulance was called for his head injury, but Black then went into cardiac arrest. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Black’s family strongly disagrees with the version of events and hired a Dayton law firm to represent them.
Black’s death remains under investigation by the Dayton Police Department
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