“SWARE to god somebody just busted out this “COP CAR WINDOW, JUMPED OUT THE BACK OF HIS CAR ON SALEM, WIT CUFFS ON, AND JUMPED OVER THE BRIDGE.....I CAN’T BELIEVE I JUST SAW THAT!”
English’s death while in police custody has created controversy within the city. Tolliver’s account is the first independent description of what happened on the bridge that night to surface. It matches the account given by Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl.
Acting on a tip, the Dayton Daily News on Friday located and interviewed Tolliver about what he saw the night English died.
“I tried to delete it, but I couldn’t,” Tolliver said. He said he chose not to tell Dayton police about what he saw because “I really didn’t want to get involved.”
Biehl said Officer Alex Magill was transporting English to the Montgomery County Jail at 9:38 p.m. July 16 when English broke a rear door window on Magill’s cruiser, exited the car and jumped off the bridge, falling 30 feet.
English was pronounced dead at 10:21 p.m. July 16 at Miami Valley Hospital. Officials there called the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office at 10:42 p.m. to tell them that English had died. The coroner’s office notified English’s next of kin at 12:45 a.m. July 17 after returning phone calls to relatives of English, said Ken Betz, director of the coronor’s office.
The coroner’s office ruled English’s death a suicide and determined he had no drugs or alcohol in his body at the time of his death.
Relatives of English have questioned the police account of the evening, claiming a Taser was used on English while he was at the jail. The autopsy found no evidence of Taser use on English.
When Tolliver saw the incident and posted his message on Facebook, he did not know the man was Kylen English, a long-time acquaintance. He later posted an apology for “any jokes I made about the guy who jumped off the bridge ... death is not funny.”
Tolliver declined Friday to elaborate on what he saw July 16 until he spoke with English’s family again. Tolliver said English’s relatives contacted him after they saw his posting, but Tolliver declined Friday to disclose what was said during that conversation.
Dayton police would like to interview Tolliver, said Lt. Matt Carper of the Dayton Police Professional Standards Unit.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2414 or kwynn@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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