'I can't breathe.' Canton police bodycam footage captures Frank Tyson's final words

Frank Tyson's last words were "I can't breathe."

The city of Canton released 911 calls and police body camera footage Wednesday night showing Tyson's arrest and struggle with two police officers last week.

Tyson, 53, who lived in the East Canton area, died after being taken to the ground and handcuffed inside the AMVETS building on Sherrick Road SE.

Police say he crashed his car into a utility pole, abandoned the vehicle and ran into the building.

The bodycam video shows police, directed to the AMVETS by witnesses, going into the bar area and taking Tyson to the floor as he screamed that police officers were trying to kill him.

Police got him onto the floor; one officer applied his knee to Tyson's back for about a minute as another police officer handcuffed him. Tyson said several times that "I can't breathe." And then less than a minute after the officers handcuffed him, he went silent.

The police officers left Tyson, who had been released from state prison earlier this month after serving a 24-year sentence for kidnapping, on the floor face down for nearly 8 minutes before the officer who handcuffed Tyson realized he couldn't feel a pulse. He took the handcuffs off and he and another officer applied chest compressions for several minutes.

Canton police have turned the investigation over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and officers Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch have been placed on administrative leave. The Stark County Coroner's Office sent Tyson's body to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy and no cause of death has been released yet.

The city showed the 35-minute video to Tyson's family before releasing it publicly.

“Today we have released the bodycam footage of the arrest incident involving the death of Mr. Frank E. Tyson," Mayor William V. Sherer II said in a prepared statement. "I sat down with members of the Tyson family to not only allow them to see what is now being released to the public, but to give them my condolences in person.

"As we make it through this challenging time, my goal is to be as transparent with this community as possible. This investigation is in the hands of BCI, and we will continue to provide them with all the required information they need to do their work. Given this is a pending investigation, we are limited on what further information we can provide.”

What does the Canton police bodycam of Frank Tyson's arrest show?

The police officer with the body camera arrived in the 1700 block of Sherrick Road SE at 8:24 p.m. Thursday to discover that a utility pole had been sheared, apparently by Tyson's vehicle. Much of the pole was hanging from the power lines.

"The guy who did this. He's in the VFW. He ran in there. And his car's right there," said a passing motorist who stopped.

The video was altered so witnesses in the video could not be identified.

One neighbor called 911 about the downed pole and crash and two more called 911 complaining about Tyson's erratic behavior inside AMVETS, seeking to have him removed from the private club.

The police officer accompanied by another officer went toward the AMVETS building. The officer found a vehicle with its airbag deployed, hazard lights flashing and driver's door open in the front yard of a home by the building.

As officers entered the building around 8:27 p.m., a woman standing in the foyer told police: "Please get him out of here now."

Tyson, standing at the bar wearing a white shirt and shorts, saw the police officers and was agitated. He yelled something inaudible on the video.

"No," the police officer said. "We're going outside. We're going outside."

"You ain't killing me. You ain't killing me tonight," he said.

The police officers grabbed Tyson by his arms.

Tyson resisted and a struggle began, with bar stools being knocked to the floor.

"They're trying to kill me. They're trying to kill me," Tyson yelled repeatedly. "Call the sheriff! Call the sheriff's department! They're trying to kill me. They're trying to kill me. ... Call the sheriff!"

The woman yelled that the police were trying to help him.

As Tyson was on the ground still yelling, an officer put his knee on Tyson's back and he was handcuffed.

Frank Tyson repeatedly says, 'I can't breathe.'

"I can't breathe," Tyson said, his words sounding gurgled.

"Stop fighting," the police officer said.

"I can't breathe," Tyson said again. "I can't breathe. I can't breathe."

He then gurgled a few more words that were inaudible.

"You're fine," the police officer said, with his hand around Tyson's handcuffed wrist. "Shut the .... up."

Tyson then lay motionless with his face on the floor, the top of his pants slightly pulled down.

At 8:30 p.m., the police officer, apparently seeing movement, told Tyson, "Calm down. Stop fighting. Stop fighting."

At 8:34 p.m., more than 5 minutes after Tyson had last spoken, another officer looking down at Tyson on the floor asked if Tyson had calmed down.

"He might be out," the police officer said.

"Is he breathing?" the other officer asked, bending down to examine him. But then he got up and walked away.

At 8:35 p.m., the police officer said to Tyson, "All right, stand up." He turned Tyson around onto his back. The officer began shaking Tyson. The police officers then turned him onto his side.

"Come on, man," the police officer said to Tyson.

He tapped him a few times.

Another police officer said, "Is he breathing? ... I have medics coming."

The police officer put his hands on Tyson's back looking for any signs of life.

At 8:37 p.m., nearly 8 minutes after Tyson had last spoken, the police officer removed the handcuffs.

"Does he have a pulse?" the other police officer said, as they turned Tyson onto his back.

"I didn't feel one," the police officer said. "Will you tell medics to step it up? He's not responsive. I don't know if I can feel a pulse."

The police officer then began administering chest compressions. After a minute, another police officer took over applying compressions. They also applied two doses of naloxone, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses.

Medics later arrived to take over.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Frank Tyson's last words: 'I can't breathe.' Canton releases bodycam