A man jailed in Anchorage died early Friday after correctional officers restrained him during a fight, according to Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers said in a statement that Jeffrey Foreman, 53, and another inmate fought in their cell at the Anchorage Correctional Complex around 1 a.m. When officers responded and issued commands to Foreman, troopers said, he “became combative and charged officers.”
“Officers used force to put Foreman on the ground and began restraining him,” troopers said. “While being restrained, Foreman kicked an officer and was placed in leg restraints.”
Soon afterward, troopers said, Foreman became unresponsive. Correctional officers and Anchorage Fire Department medics tried to revive him, but he died at the jail.
Foreman’s death is being examined by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, according to troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel. He said neither Foreman nor the other inmate suffered any serious injuries during their initial fight.
McDaniel said officers took two to three minutes to restrain Foreman. It wasn’t immediately clear whether officers had impeded his breathing while doing so.
“The level and type of force used by correctional officers is part of the ABI investigation,” McDaniel said in an email.
An autopsy will determine Foreman’s official cause of death, according to McDaniel.
Court records show that Foreman was arrested July 5 on DUI and third-degree assault charges. According to a charging document, a woman told police that evening that an alcohol-fueled argument ended with Foreman punching her in the head, then driving away in an SUV.
Foreman arranged to meet with police nearby but allegedly drove by instead, the charges said, prompting officers to follow him back to the scene of the assault. Police said he denied hitting the woman, but smelled of alcohol and provided a breath sample with more than twice Alaska’s legal limit of .08.
According to court records, Foreman’s bail was set at $250 cash on July 6. A transcript in the case listed that amount as paid as of Thursday.
DOC officials were still researching questions Monday morning on Foreman’s bail status or why he was still being held at the time of the fight.
Meghan Barker, a spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, said Monday that the organization is beginning to conduct an independent investigation of Foreman’s death.
“We are deeply disappointed to see that this case and this situation follows similar patterns as other deaths in custody that we have seen, when it comes to people who've been in custody for short amounts of time,” she said.
This is the second death at the Anchorage Correctional Complex in the past year linked to a fight. William Farmer, 36, died in January after troopers say he was assaulted Dec. 17 by cellmate Lawrence Fenumiai.
Fenumiai, 33, faces second-degree murder charges in a case marked by mental health issues, with records showing he was ordered to be transferred from the jail four days before he allegedly beat Farmer.
Barker said that Foreman’s bail, which records show wasn’t formally posted until the day he died, links the events of his death to Farmer’s.
“It just goes to show that we are seeing administrative issues, including not releasing people who have been dismissed by the courts in time, and it's resulting in deaths,” Barker said. “In the case of William Farmer, the man that is accused of his murder, he should not have even been in the same cell as William Farmer and a judge had dismissed him.”
Although the ACLU’s inmate-death investigations reveal “a diverse set of causes for people who die in custody,” Barker said they are united by the state’s responsibility for people in its care.
“And so whether it's people who die by suicide complications or improper treatment for medical issues or use of force, each death represents a failure by the state to keep Alaskans alive while incarcerated,” she said. “And there has to be accountability for that.”
