GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – No criminal charges will be filed in the case of a man who died while in Green Bay police custody.
Jason Thomson, 47, died Feb. 10 while being taken from the Brown County Jail to a hospital for medical clearance.
The state Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the death. DCI’s report says the incident began around 11:30 p.m. the previous night. Emergency crews were called to St. John’s Homeless Shelter, where Thomson was having a seizure.
Thomson was taken to St. Vincent Hospital, where the emergency room doctor recognized him as someone who had been treated for seizures before. After treatment, the doctor said Thomson was resting comfortably.
Eventually, Thomson asked to use the bathroom. He was provided with a hand urinal, and started to become combative. Nurses and hospital security were not able to calm him down, so they called police.
When police arrived, Thomson resisted officers, the report says. Officers eventually got him on the floor and handcuffed, and when he continued to kick and resist, they placed him in a body restraint device. The DCI report says the officers used the restraining device as instructed.
Around 3 a.m., the officers took Thomson to the Brown County Jail. Squad car video showed him conscious and talking the whole time. There, the jail nurse examined him and requested that he be taken to a hospital to be re-cleared.
He was placed in the back of a squad car; at this point, the nurse saw that he became unresponsive. She had Thomson removed from the squad car and his restraints taken off. Officers gave him CPR until an ambulance arrived.
Thomson was taken to Aurora Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The entire sequence of events was captured on hospital surveillance, squad car video and jail surveillance. That video was posted on DCI’s website.
Investigators spoke with Thomson’s sister, who said he had epilepsy and suffered several seizures and “cracked his skull” in the past.
The forensic pathologist who conducted Thomson’s autopsy did not identify a cause of death, but noted medical deficiencies and evidence of scrapes and bruises. Toxicology reports were still pending.
The Brown County District Attorney’s Office made the final decision not to charge anyone involved with the incident.
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