Combative Polk Jail inmate died of accidental drug overdose, medical examiner determines
An autopsy determined an accidental drug overdose led to the Dec. 23 death of a combative inmate who became unresponsive while in the custody of sheriff’s deputies at the county jail.
Eric Paul Nelson, 46, was arrested on charges of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia charges about 6 a.m. on Dec. 23 by the Lakeland Police Department.
According to Stephen Nelson, medical examiner for the 10th Judicial Circuit, as the inmate was booked into the jail, “he appeared very agitated and medical staff believed he was under the influence of methamphetamine.”
“At 12:15 PM he got into a fight in the jail with detention deputies,” he wrote. “Once secured, he was walked to a holding cell to be checked out by a nurse. While awaiting arrival of the nurse, he was found to be unresponsive in the holding cell.”
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Medical aid was rendered, the inmate was transported to “AdventHealth Sebring Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 1:34 PM in their ER,” the medical examiner wrote.
The autopsy showed the inmate had suffered several broken ribs, which could have been the result of aggressive efforts at CPR, according to the medical examiner.
The autopsy report also contained toxicology results that showed significant amounts of stimulants in the blood and trace amounts of substances found in cocaine and cannabinoids in the urine of the inmate. He also had an enlarged liver and narrowing of his arteries or stenosis.
“It is my opinion that Eric Paul Nelson died as a result of amphetamine, methamphetamine, and N,N-diethylpentylone intoxication,” the medical examiner said in the autopsy report. “The manner of his death is accident.”
Nelson released the autopsy earlier this week and spoke to a Ledger reporter by phone Wednesday.
The full investigation into the events leading up to Nelson’s death are being conducted by the Officer-Involved Deadly Incident Task Force for the 10th Judicial Circuit, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Scott Wilder said on Tuesday that the task force investigation is still open. That report is expected to render a final decision on the deputies’ use of force.
"Until the death investigation & State Attorney’s Office review are completed, we can’t discuss the investigations beyond what we have already discussed," Wilder said in an email. "Also, once those are completed, then our administrative investigation takes place."
Eric Nelson was first contacted by law enforcement on Dec. 23 when Lakeland police officers had responded to a report of a possible burglary suspect running away from the Taco Bell on U.S. 98 North toward the North Lakeland Starbucks.
LPD officers found Nelson holding a backpack in the Starbucks parking lot. They searched the backpack and found a bag of syringes and a baggie containing a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, the Sheriff's Office said.
Nelson told the officers that he uses the needles to “shoot meth.” He was placed under arrest and charged with possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Death of Polk jail inmate ruled accidental drug overdose
