Four other staff members placed on leave in the spring by Sheriff Rob Streck after the inmate’s death remain on leave while the outside investigation continues, the spokesperson said.
Christian Black, of Zanesville, was taken into custody March 23 after reportedly crashing a stolen vehicle on Interstate 70 in Englewood, the sheriff’s office said. He was taken to a local hospital and subsequently booked into jail.
On March 24, Black was involved in a fight with jail staff, where employees used used force, including a Taser to subdue him. That same day, the sheriff’s office said Black “forcefully and repeatedly hit his head on the cell door, and jail staff entered the room to subdue him again.”
A second fight broke out, with staff again using a Taser on Black as well as pepper spray, the sheriff’s office said. Black was then put in handcuffs and an emergency restraint chair.
The sheriff’s office said Black’s condition deteriorated and he went into “full arrest, despite staff performing CPR and administering oxygen, medicine and a defibrillator” before medics arrived and took him to the hospital.
He died two days later.
Attorneys for Black’s family say he was murdered, and released dozens of videos obtained from the sheriff’s office showing Black’s time at the jail. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office ruled his death a homicide as a result of “mechanical and positional asphyxiation.”
Black’s family filed a medical negligence and wrongful death lawsuit against the jail’s medical provider NaphCare and several employees. They said he was denied necessary medical treatment during his 24-hour stay in the pre-trial facility.
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