Polk County Inmate Dies After Hitting, Kicking, Biting Jail Staff

FROSTPROOF, FL — The Polk County Officer-Involved Deadly Incident task force is investigating the death of a 46-year-old man who stopped breathing Friday after deputies placed him on suicide watch at the South County Jail in Frostproof.

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Eric Nelson, a registered sex offender, was in jail after being arrested by Lakeland police on methamphetamine and paraphernalia possession charges.

On Friday, Nelson told corrections deputies that he hadn't slept in five days. He later became agitated and began yelling at jail staff and kicking his cell door.

Corrections staff transferred him to the South County Jail, which has a medical dorm, and placed him on suicide watch. When he was told to put on a medical gown, deputies said Nelson punched a deputy in the face and then hit, bit and kicked three deputies as they tried to place him in handcuffs.

The sheriff's office said additional corrections deputies arrived and used a chemical agent to try to subdue him but the deputies said Nelson "exhibited strength greater than a normal person” from drug use, and the chemical agent had no effect.

Nelson was eventually placed in handcuffs and shackles and taken to a private cell where the restraints were removed. As the deputies were leaving the cell, they said they noticed that Nelson wasn't breathing. They began performing CPR and called for an ambulance to transfer him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

In addition to the Officer-Involved Deadly Incident task force investigation, Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said the sheriff's office is conducting its own investigation and is awaiting the Polk County Medical Examiner's determination of the cause of death.