Sheriff's Department Sued for Tying Up Tourist, Allegedly Pepper Spraying Him to Death

By Kyle Munzenrieder Thu., Dec. 29 2011 at 4:57 PM

Back in 2009, 62-year-old Ohio resident Nick Christie traveled down to Florida to unwind and spend time with his brother. Christie has been showing signs of depression and erratic behavior, but perhaps the warm Florida sun would help him. Christie however never returned to Ohio. He died after being strapped to a chair and repeatedly pepper sprayed in a Florida jail.

According to My Fox Tampa Bay, Christie was arrested for disorderly intoxication during his trip back in March 2009. When his wife, Joyce, back in Ohio at the time, found out about the arrest she asked the Sheriff's department to take Christie to a hospital so he could be given his medication. Instead, he was taken to jail and placed in a restraint chair.

Officers used pepper spray to subdue Christie ten times over a 48-hour period. At one point he was stripped naked, tied to a chair, gagged with a spit mask, and pepper sprayed.

"This photo is a picture of a man who is strapped to a chair naked inside a jail for hours with a hood over his face. That evokes thoughts of being tortured," says Cleveland-based lawyer Nick DiCello, a lawyer for the Christie family, told the station.

In the investigation, a deputy trainee on the scene told investigators that Christie plead with deputies to take off the spit mask because he couldn't breath.

Christie's Mug Shot

Christie was eventually taken to a hospital and later died due to shock from the pepper spray. His death was declared a homicide, but all deputies involved were cleared.

However, the Christie family is now suiting the Lee County Sheriff's Office. That case should go to court next year.

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Marian Scirrotto

http://www.thepetitionsite.com...

Kateyrose61

This is just fucking sickening...

Hpgajg

Yea thats right, blame the police. Dude was probably being a jerk and wouldn't cooperate.

Not Amused

That's Florida for you... totally corrupt. Our country is de-evolving into a horror show. SHAME ON YOU FLORIDA. you people should be getting ANGRY. This man deserves JUSTICE.

FOR SHAME.

matt gordon

Once again, a death by law enforcement using pepper spray improperly to punish a detainee already in custody.The increase in cops' feeling secure enough to punish by Taser and chemical spray started slowly and gradually increased the last few years. Now cops don't have any compunction about Tasering an arestee who simply doesn't comply fast enough but otherwise is no threat to the cop. And if an arestee mouths off at a cop who has already likely escalated the police-citizen encounter by being brusque and insulting instead of straight forward professional, then a non-violent but belligerent person is getting the voltage or chemical weapon for no other reason than to teach them a lesson.

All due respect to cops, but perhaps they have been deified too much and given too many passes for doing the that keeps us safe. Compound that with diminished civilian oversight and of course they feel they can Taser or chem spray a person to death with impunity while the sociopaths at home purse their lips and declare "If he had not mouthed off/struggled/etc, then it would not have had to happen".

Omginspections

His death was a homicide but all the cops were cleared WTF are you serious these cops should be given the death penalty I hope the family wins the lawsuit

glass slipper

This is what happens when you send these pig cops over to Israel for "training".

They come back here and start acting like fucking Israeli terrorists.

That picture looks like something out of Abu Ghraib.

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