Texas Rangers are investigating the death of Tony Chance Ross, 34, who died at Trinity Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler following his arrest by Sulphur Springs police on March 6, according to a report by KSST-FM.
Sulphur Springs Chief of Police Jay Sanders told KSST that Ross was arrested after a struggle with officers responding to a call of a shirtless man behaving erratically, followed by a report of a door being kicked in, on Whitworth Street in Sulphur Springs.
Sanders told KSST that Ross attempted to fight a responding officer, who tazed Ross, who ran away. Police were able to subdue and arrest Ross, who was combative while being taken to Hopkins County Jail, Sanders said.
About 11 minutes after being placed in a padded cell, an officer heard a noise from the cell, Sanders said. Ross was found unresponsive, he said.
Police called emergency medical services and performed CPR on Ross, but he was not breathing on his own when he arrived at Hopkins County Memorial Hospital, Sanders told KSST. Ross was transferred to Trinity-Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler, where he died. Sanders said the hospital gave the cause of death as cardiac arrest.
