A Kentucky man with a heart condition died in police custody Saturday, and his friend who recorded the arrest said officers never called for medical assistance despite her insistence that he was struggling to breathe.
Clarence Wilkerson, 34, died after Ashland police officers tried to serve a warrant, Kentucky State Police said in a statement Monday. The state’s medical examiner found Wilkerson’s death was not the result of a “traumatic event” but possibly related to an existing medical condition, state police said in a statement.
An autopsy began the day after Wilkerson died, according to the Boyd County coroner, but an official cause of death has not yet been determined. State police are investigating upon request from Ashland police.
Bethany Bowman, a friend who witnessed Wilkerson’s arrest, said officers did not call for medical support even after she and Wilkerson noted his struggle to breathe. Bowman, who sometimes referred to Wilkerson by his nickname, “C,” said she knew one of the officers involved in the arrest because he was frequently in the area by her trailer park.
The morning of his death, Wilkerson was playing video games at Bowman’s with her boyfriend. He was lucid, calm and coherent when he left at 11:45 a.m., she said.
“As soon as he stepped out of the trailer, he closed the door behind him, and me and my boyfriend heard him talking to someone,” Bowman said.
She said Wilkerson ran around her trailer to avoid the officer. The officer followed him, ran into a clothesline and requested backup, Bowman said.
Six-minute video
That’s when she began recording.
“The video was six minutes long, and I started recording at 12:02 p.m.,” Bowman said. “In that 15 minutes, he went from being healthy to on death’s door.”
Bowman’s video was recorded from a distance, and it is sometimes difficult to hear the officers or get a close look at Wilkerson’s face. Bowman can be heard telling officers that Wilkerson is having difficulty breathing and losing color.
The…
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