By Dan Horn
Enquirer staff writer

Cincinnati police beat an intoxicated man outside a White Castle restaurant in November and then failed to provide basic medical care that could have saved his life, a lawsuit claimed Friday.

The family of 41-year-old Nathaniel Jones leveled the charges in a federal lawsuit that blames police, firefighters and city officials for Jones' death.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, accuses police of instigating a fight with Jones and claims the Nov. 30 incident is part of a "pervasive pattern" of civil rights abuses by Cincinnati police officers.

"The beating and killing of Mr. Jones ... is a direct result of the deliberate indifference of the city in failing to adequately train, supervise and discipline police officers," the lawsuit states.

City Solicitor Rita McNeal would not comment on the allegations.

A video camera in a police cruiser taped the confrontation between the officers and Jones about 6 a.m. in the White Castle parking lot in North Avondale. The video shows Jones lunge at the officers, who then strike him repeatedly with their batons.

The nearly three-minute struggle set off a furor after it was aired across the country.

After Jones was handcuffed, officers noticed he was not breathing and began looking around for fire department paramedics, who had been called to the scene earlier but left during the struggle.

The lawsuit claims nine police officers were responsible either for Jones' injuries or for failing to give him medical attention. And it says three firefighters were negligent for leaving the scene.

A restaurant employee called the paramedics about 15 minutes before the fight when she became concerned about Jones' erratic behavior. A video camera at the restaurant showed Jones dancing inside, and employees reported seeing him fall down outside.

An autopsy found intoxicating levels of cocaine and the drug PCP in Jones' blood. It also concluded Jones had an enlarged heart, a history of high blood pressure and, at 348 pounds, was morbidly obese.

The report concluded that all of those factors contributed to Jones' death, along with asphyxia because police left him lying on his stomach.

Prosecutor Mike Allen has cleared the officers of criminal wrongdoing, and police officials have said they followed their training.

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E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com