CdA police cleared in man’s July death

COEUR D’ALENE (AP) — A North Idaho prosecutor says an investigation shows Coeur d’Alene police acted appropriately when they arrested a man who lost consciousness and later died.

The Coeur d’Alene Press reports that a forensic pathologist found Nicholas Andrew Clason stopped breathing because of methamphetamine toxicity, and that after he was resuscitated he died of a lack of oxygen to the brain.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh investigated the death and said those findings showed that the Spokane man didn’t die because of the way police restrained him.

Police arrested Clason last July after they got a report of a suicidal man who was trying to stab himself on Interstate 90. During the arrest, officers realized Clason had stopped breathing and began CPR. He died four days later.

Past coverage:

July 14: Man dies in police custody in Coeur d’Alene