A Black Texas man died in the custody of county jail corrections officers after being arrested for having marijuana.
According to theGrio, on March 14, Marvin David Scott III, 26, died in police custody after he was restrained and pepper-sprayed by county jail detention officers. He had been arrested after police stated they found marijuana in his possession.
Police officials from the Allen Police Department stated that police officers approached Scott while responding to a disturbance call at the Allen Premium Outlets. Police officers said they
observed Scott was acting in an erratic manner and assumed that he was high on drugs. They called for assistance from paramedics from the Allen Fire Department.Scott was taken by ambulance to Texas Health Allen Hospital, where he was in the emergency room for about three hours. He was released into police custody and processed at the Allen police headquarters holding facility and then transported and released to the custody of the Collin County Sheriff’s Office.
After being booked, officials say that Scott began to exhibit
“some strange behavior” and seven police officers restrained Scott. They placed him in a bed to stabilize him and pepper-sprayed him. The officers used a “spit mask” to cover his face. Scott then became non-responsive and was taken to Baylor Scott & White McKinney Medical Center in McKinney, Texas, just north of Allen, where he was pronounced dead.Chief Brian Harvey of the Allen Police Department released a statement:
“The Allen Police Department joins our community in sadness following the death of Marvin David Scott III. Mr. Scott died
in custody at the Collin County jail following an earlier arrest by the Allen Police Department. I met with Mr. Scott’s family earlier this week to express condolences. When I asked how I could describe their son to our department and the Allen community, I learned that Marvin was a straight A student, a football player, and generous to everyone around him.
“The Texas Rangers are currently conducting an independent investigation into the cause of Mr. Scott’s death at the Collin County jail. The City of Allen and the Allen Police Department are cooperating fully with that investigation. To ensure the integrity of their investigation, the information we can provide is limited and may be reviewed below. We offer our sincere sympathy to Mr. Scott’s parents, Marvin and LaSandra, and the rest of his family and friends during this difficult time.”