Deputies Were Told Man With Down Syndrome Would Resist Removal From Movie Theater

Man died of asphyxiation while being removed from theater

The person looking after a man with Down syndrome who asphyxiated while being removed from a Frederick, Md., movie theater warned deputies not to touch him, according to a 98-page incident report released by the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Monday.

Three sheriff’s deputies moonlighting as mall security forcibly removed 26-year-old Robert Ethan Saylor from a movie theater in January.

Saylor's 18-year-old caretaker said in a written statement she told the deputies not to touch or speak to Saylor because he would “freak out.”

A deputy insisted that Saylor had to leave because he hadn't paid for a second viewing of the movie, “Zero Dark Thirty,” the caretaker said.

Saylor died after he was handcuffed and taken down.

A grand jury declined to indict the deputies for what the state medical examiner's office has ruled a homicide.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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