State Investigating a String of Fatal Encounters With Canton Police

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is investigating a third fatal confrontation with Canton police.

Frank E. Tyson, 53, died face down and handcuffed while being arrested April 18. Tyson, according to 911 callers, walked into a bar following a car crash. Patrons told police to “get him out of here.” Tyson knocked over a barstool as police wrestled him to the ground, where he was handcuffed and pinned face down, at times by an officer’s knee.

“You’re fine. Shut the fuck up,” an officer said as Tyson repeated his final words: “I can’t breathe.”

Nearly six minutes passed before officers checked Tyson’s pulse and called paramedics. The handcuffs stayed on for another two minutes before an officer rolled Tyson over and began chest compressions. Tyson never regained consciousness.

It could take weeks for an official cause and manner of death. The autopsy will be conducted by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) will examine the use of force deployed by the officers.

BCI, meanwhile, is still investigating two domestic dispute calls from 2023 that ended in deadly police gunfire. Canton officers fatally shot Jeffrey Neff, 41, in an exchange of gunfire June 7. BCI forwarded its completed investigation to local prosecutors on March 14. On Dec. 5, an officer shot and killed 24-year-old Zachary Fornash, who was holding a pellet gun. That state investigation is ongoing.

Another recent investigation of Canton police ended with a grand jury declining to indict an officer who fatally shot 46-year-old James Williams through a fence on New Year’s Day morning in 2022.

This article was published in partnership with The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their newsletters , and follow them on Instagram , TikTok , Reddit and Facebook .