Tuesday, February 02, 1999
Study of inmate death to take up to 90 days
Man 'had worked self into frenzy'
BY RAY SCHAEFER
Enquirer Contributor
COVINGTON — Kenton County officials said Monday it will take up to 90 days to complete the investigation into the death of a Cincinnati man who died Friday as Kenton County jailers prepared him for a mental evaluation.
The jail's internal affairs department and the Kenton County Police Department are conducting separate inquiries into the death of Michael Labmeier, 48, who died on the way to St. Elizabeth Medical Center North.
He was supposed to be taken to St. Elizabeth South's mental health unit in Edgewood when he collapsed while being restrained at the jail.
No comment
“As in all death investigations, it's ongoing, and we don't make any comments on it until it's closed,” Kenton County Police Chief Mike Browning said.
“The final piece of business is the toxicology report, and it takes 60-90 days,” he said. “We investigate it like a homicide. We take statements; we flesh out the facts surrounding the death.”
Maj. Rodney Ballard, the jail's director of training and internal investigations, said Monday that Dr. Ken Robinson visited Mr. Labmeier Friday morning in an isolation cell and determined he needed a mental evaluation.
Maj. Ballard said Mr. Labmeier was agitated, refused to come out and was clothed in only his underwear. After a 15-minute wait, Covington Fire Department paramedics were called.
“He was banging himself off the walls,” said Col. Bill Schilling, the jail's chief deputy. “He had worked himself into a frenzy.”
Maj. Ballard said Col. Schilling sprayed Mr. Labmeier once with pepper spray. He said a taser stun gun was shown but not used.
Deputies used a shield to back Mr. Labmeier against a wall.
After he was handcuffed, he began kicking at officers, and five deputies took him to the floor and shackled his legs and hands.
Maj. Ballard said jail staff checked for a pulse, but Covington paramedics found none 30 seconds later.
Mr. Labmeier was pronounced dead at 11:31 a.m. Friday.
County Coroner David Suetholz said Mr. Labmeier of College Hill may have lost his pulse because of an irregular heartbeat caused by an adrenaline rush while he was being restrained.
He said there was evidence of heart disease in a major artery.
“This excess adrenaline could cause your heart to beat irregularly,” Dr. Suetholz said.
Dr. Suetholz also said Mr. Labmeier's weight — he was 6-feet tall and weighed 302 pounds — was likely a contributing factor.
Three arrests
Mr. Labmeier had been arrested three times last week and was admitted to the Kenton County Jail three times since Jan. 25.
Covington police arrested and jailed Mr. Labmeier Jan. 25 and again Jan. 26 for disorderly conduct. He pleaded guilty both times, but after being freed Wednesday, he was jailed again Wednesday night for allegedly taking a car from the 1300 block of Madison Avenue and driving away in it.
Mr. Labmeier is the second inmate to die in the Kenton County Jail since last summer. James Franklin, a 68-year-old diabetic inmate, was found dead in his cell.
His children have filed a $1 million lawsuit.
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