2 Ohio officers charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of an incarcerated man following a crash arrest

Prosecutors in Ohio have filed involuntary manslaughter charges against two police officers in connection with the death of a man who was handcuffed and left facedown on the floor of a Canton club while he told officers he couldn't breathe .

Stark County Prosecutor Kyle Stone told reporters Saturday that charges had been brought against Canton officers Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch by a grand jury in connection with the April 18 death of Frank Tyson, a 53-year-old East Canton resident taken into custody shortly after a vehicle crash that severed a utility pole.

Police body camera footage showed Tyson, who was Black, resisting and repeatedly saying, “They're trying to kill me” and “Call the sheriff” as he was taken to the ground, and he told officers he couldn't breathe.

Officers told Tyson that he was fine, to calm down and to stop fighting because he was handcuffed face down. Officers joked with bystanders and looked through Tyson's wallet before realizing he was in a medical crisis.

The medical examiner's office ruled Tyson's death a homicide in August, citing heart disease and cocaine and alcohol intoxication as other contributing factors.

Stone said the charges are third-degree felonies that carry a maximum penalty of 36 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. In response to a question Saturday, he said there was no evidence to support charges against a bystander.

The Stark County Sheriff's Office confirmed Saturday that Schoenegge and Burch were booked into the county jail. An official said there was no information about who might be representing them. Canton police previously said the two were placed on paid administrative leave in accordance with department policy.

Tyson's family's attorney, Bobby DiCello, said in a statement that the arrests are a relief because the officers involved in Tyson's “inhumane and brutal death” will not escape prosecution. But he called it “bittersweet because it makes official what they've known for a long time: Frank is a victim of murder.”

County NAACP chapter president Hector McDaniel called the allegations “consistent with the behavior we have seen.”

“We believe we are moving in the right direction toward transparency, accountability and truth,” McDaniel said, according to the Canton Repository.

Tyson was released from state prison on April 6 after serving a 24-year sentence in a kidnapping and theft case, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction almost immediately declared a post-release supervision violation for failing to report to a probation officer.