Authorities in Florida are investigating the death of an inmate at the Frostproof shortly after his arrest for a burglary Friday.
Eric Nelson, an ex-con with a 26-year criminal history, was caught in a Starbucks parking lot with a backpack containing meth and syringes he used to “shoot meth.”
Once at the Sheriff’s Processing Center, Nelson became violent and cured at staff telling them that he didn’t sleep for five days.
Nurses there believed Nelson was under the influence of drugs. Officers decided to place him in a solitary cell only for him to become more agitated.
The aggressive behavior led deputies to take Nelson to the South County Jail in Frostproof where he took off his shirt and launched an attack at three deputies as they tried to handcuff him.
Even after he was taken to the ground, Nelson kept biting and punching the deputies with a “strength greater than a normal person would.”
When he was ultimately restrained and carried out to his cell, Nelson stopped breathing and the color of his face changed.
Staff used a defibrillator and tried CPR but the inmate died at a local hospital shortly later.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has launched four investigations into Nelson’s death.
