LANSING (WXYZ) — "He's begging for his breath," said Joan Hulon as she describes seeing jail video of her son as several Lansing Police officers restrained him. "He told them he was going to pass out more than once and he kept telling them 'I can't breathe' and then he went limp. And they kept doing what they were doing."
Anthony Hulon became unresponsive in March 2020, while being restrained by Lansing Police officers in their jail.
Hulon had been arrested, accused of assaulting his male roommate. Investigators said Hulon had ingested amphetamines and ecstasy laced with an unknown drug.
They had taken Hulon to Sparrow Hospital. But he was then cleared for release, despite his erratic behavior.
Once at the jail, video shows several officers appear to be on top of Hulon as they try to restrain him.
"It hurts bad," Hulon said to officers. He also makes grunting sounds before he told them, "I can't breathe."
Seconds later, Hulon said, "I'm passing out."
Hulon's body does go limp and one officer asks if he's sleeping. They later discover Hulon does not have a pulse.
Investigators said officers immediately administered CPR and the use of an automated external defibrillator in an attempt to revive Hulon.
Hulon was taken to Sparrow Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
"They killed somebody," said Heather Hulon, Anthony Hulon's sister. "I don't see how anybody can look at that video and not see that that's what happened."
But the Michigan Attorney General's office did not find fault with the officers.
"The force used by the officers was justified even though it led to the prisoner's death," said Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The medical examiner determined that Anthony Hulon died from positional asphyxia and ruled his death a homicide.
Nessel said Hulon's autopsy also showed he had a high level of drugs in his body and suffered from hypertensive and atherosclerotic disease, which contributed to his death.
CHARGES IN THE DEATH OF PAUL BULTHOUSE
In a separate case, Dana Nessel did announce charges in the death of Paul Bulthouse Friday.
Bulthouse died 13 days after he was arrested for a probation violation in March 2019.
Investigators said he was classified as suicidal, which required that he be monitored by deputies at the Muskegon County Jail every 15 minutes.
Nessel said Bulthouse had 22 visible seizures in a span of five and a half hours and that he died from gross neglect and disregard for human life.
Four deputies and a nurse have all been charged with involuntary manslaughter and failure to perform a legal duty, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Below are the names of those charged in the case:
- Deputy Sgt. David Vanderlaan
- Deputy Jeffrey Patterson
- Deputy Crystal Greve
- Deputy Jamal Lane
- Former Wellpath Registered Nurse Aubrey Schotts
Each defendant was arraigned and released on a personal bond.
