Newly released body camera video shows law enforcement encounter with Indiana man who died after medical call

DEMOTTE, Ind. — Newly released body camera video shows the law enforcement encounter involving a northwest Indiana man that unfolded just days before his death, which family members believe was connected to the incident.

On Sept. 8, 26-year-old Rhyker Earl, a father of two who was diagnosed with epilepsy, experienced a medical episode at his home in DeMotte, Indiana, prompting family members to call Emergency Medical Technicians. When Earl experienced a more severe seizure later that evening, some of the same EMTS and Jasper County deputies responded to the home.

According to family members and a lawsuit , during the encounter, deputies took Earl to the floor and handcuffed him behind his back with his face in a pillow while restricting his breathing.

Following the encounter, Earl was taken to a hospital but was eventually removed from life support on Sept. 10th after tests confirmed he had no brain activity.

A statement shared by the sheriff’s office two days later did not make any mention of the encounter and only said that deputies had responded to a medical call at the home and later learned that the individual had passed away.

Earl’s family members, who have since hired national civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Indiana attorney Stephen Wagner, say they believe that the encounter with law enforcement led to his death.

Last week, Jasper County Sheriff Pat Williamson sent out a news release about Earl’s death in an effort to address what he called “false or misleading claims” after reviewing the body camera video.

Williamson refuted the claim that responding deputies restricted Earl’s breathing and said the pillow placed beneath his head was for his own protection.

“In the body-worn camera video, Mr. Earl is seen forcefully banging his head on the floor. Deputies immediately asked the family for a pillow and placed it under his head to prevent Mr. Earl from injuring himself. His head was lying on the pillow; his breathing was not restricted,” Williamson said in the press release. “In addition, the video clearly shows deputies were restraining Mr. Earl by his legs, arms, and shoulders. Per training, deputies were holding him in such a way that would not restrict breathing, and Mr. Earl was vocalizing during the entire incident. Deputies also placed Mr. Earl on his side, also known as the ‘recovery position,’” Williamson said in the press release.”

Read the full statement below:

On Friday, body camera video capturing the incident from several angles was released by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

In total, deputies released 10 videos. Nine of the videos show the unedited footage captured by three responding deputies’ cameras, while the tenth complies the videos together to offer a timeline of the encounter.

“The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office committed to releasing body-worn camera video related to the incident involving 26-year-old Rhyker Earl as soon as the investigation conducted by Indiana State Police would allow,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said in a post on Facebook on Friday, “The Sheriff’s Office has been given that clearance, and we’re releasing the body-worn camera video today. We feel it is critical that our community have as much information as possible and evaluate the incident independently of outside influences.”

In the post announcing the release of the video, deputies added details about the Sept. 8, medical call, adding that Earl was suffering a medical emergency and “demonstrating mental difficulties and significant physical resistance to the medical personnel on the scene.”

Deputies said that the responsibility of the responding deputies was to prevent Earl from “harming himself or the EMT personnel.”

“By releasing this video, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office is not drawing any conclusions about the actions of anyone involved in this incident. The independent investigation will draw those

conclusions,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said.

A cause and manner of death for Earl have not been released and the Lake County coroner, who is handling the death investigation, told WGN News on Monday that an autopsy, medical records and toxicology results are pending a review, which could take up to three weeks.

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