A suspect in a drug indiction traffic stop died Saturday after a violent struggle with officers of the Bellefontaine Police Department.
One officer was injured and received treatment at Mary Rutan Hospital and then released.
Kevin Duncan, 38, of Springfield, was pronounced dead at MRH despite efforts by officers and medical personnel to revive him. The injured officer was not identified.
Chief Brandon Standley has turned over the investigation of the incident to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
According to the chief’s release, the officer attempted to stop the suspect around 6:17 p.m. in the 500 block of east High Avenue.
He was directed out of the vehicle and he reportedly attacked the officer.
Bellefontaine’s K-9 Team responded and canine Boodik was deployed to help gain control of the suspect. The man was bitten, eventually detained and placed in handcuffs.
The suspect soon began to experience a medical emergency and paramedics with the Bellefontaine Fire & EMS Department were dispatched to the scene at 6:23 p.m. to treat the suspect and the officer.
The male suspect received multiple doses of Narcan from both officers and paramedics in efforts to revive him. Those efforts failed.
He was transported to MRH where he was declared dead.
Chief Standley did not answer questions regarding the department’s policies on physically restraining suspects. He also did not say, when or if there has been an in-custody death in the department’s history prior to this incident.
Duncan was convicted in Logan County Common Pleas Court of third-degree felony drug possession in 2012, third-degree robbery in 2012, misdemeanor failure to comply with police in 2019 and fourth-degree felony possession of drugs in 2017.