A DeMotte man, according to one of his family’s attorneys, died after he had a severe seizure and police restrained him face down and held him down while he begged that he couldn’t breathe until he went limp and his face turned blue.
Rhyker Earl, 26, died on Sept. 10, two days after his interaction with police and EMTs.
“Why was Rhyker treated like a criminal, not a patient? Why did officers ignore the obvious risks of prone restraint? Why did they ignore his pleas that he could not breathe?” Carmel attorney Stephen Wagner said in a release provided to the Post-Tribune by his office.
Earl, according to Wagner, died after family members called 911 to their home a few miles outside of DeMotte because he was having a severe seizure, the second one Earl had that day.
Jasper County Sheriff Pat Williamson requested the Indiana State Police Criminal Investigation Division Lowell Post investigate what happened, according to a Tuesday release from state police.
“This is an active investigation,” Sgt. Glen Fifield, public information officer for the Lowell Post, said in the release. “The Indiana State Police is aware of information being shared on various social media sites about this case. We request the public’s patience as detectives will conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation.”
The sheriff’s department said in a release that around 8:35 p.m. on Sept. 8, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 medical call from a residence about 4 miles southwest of DeMotte. Keener Township EMS arrived and requested assistance from the fire department and sheriff’s deputies, and the sheriff’s office learned two days later that the patient, identified as Earl, died.
Earl’s grandmother called 911 when he had a severe seizure, according to Wagner.
“While they were on scene, Rhyker was in a postictal state, trying to recover from his seizure. He was confused and agitated, typical symptoms for someone who had just suffered a severe seizure,” Wagner said.
As Earl was trying to put on shorts to go to the hospital, he lost his balance and fell on one of the officers who, according to Wagner, became aggressive and yelled at Earl, “You don’t treat law enforcement that way.”
Officers took Earl to the ground and handcuffed him face down on the floor, Wagner said, and multiple officers remained on top of Earl while EMTs administered three rounds of sedatives. Some of the EMTs had responded earlier in the day to a different location when Earl had another, less severe seizure.
They knew he was undergoing a medical emergency and they also knew he had asthma, Wagner said.
“Officers stayed on top of Rhyker for more than 15 minutes, with his face in a pillow. During this time, Rhyker begged for his life and screamed that he couldn’t breathe. His pleas, and those of his aunt and grandmother, were ignored,” Wagner said.
After more than 15 minutes, Earl went limp, according to Wagner. His aunt noticed Earl was blue in the face and pleaded with EMTs to do something. After “an agonizing few minutes,” Wagner said, they took Earl’s pulse and realized he was not breathing.
“At this early stage, there are still many unanswered questions,” Wagner said, adding the family also has retained national civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
According to his obituary, Earl was born in Valparaiso and graduated in 2016 from Kankakee Valley High School. He liked to play guitar and listen to music. He enjoyed fishing and drawing. He was an avid rock collector.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
