GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – -year-old inmate of the Clay County Jail died of asphyxia in a restraint chair after being pepper-sprayed in March 2013, according to investigative documents released Friday.
Daniel Linsinbigler, who was being held on misdemeanor charges, was also in a spit mask, according to the documents.
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The Clay County Sheriff's Office has since changed its policies regarding pepper spray and the spit mask as a result of Linsinbigler's death.
One deputy was under an internal affairs investigation for allegations of excessive force. Another inmate claimed Deputy Rodney Houldson told him he shoved the pepper-spray can down Linsinbigler's throat, but that proved to be a false claim.
While the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, the State Attorney's Office called it accidental, saying there was no criminal wrongdoing on the part of the deputies.
Linsinbigler's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office.
Linsinbigler was arrested after he was found running naked outside and then entering a woman's hotel room and yelling Bible verses at her.
He was on suicide watch in a cell when he started acting violently, hitting the walls, investigators said. They said corrections officers were not able to calm him down, so they went into the cell, having decided to put him in a restraint chair for his own safety.
Investigators said Linsinbigler resisted and was pepper-sprayed once.
They said officers wrestled him into the chair and put a spit mask on him, and 43 minutes later, he was found unresponsive.