Report: Deputies acted ‘according to the law’ after man who ingested drugs dies in custody

Richland County sheriff’s deputies “acted in accordance with all laws,” in connection with the death of a man who died while in custody in 2014 after ingesting drugs, a review by the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s office found.

A summary of the report’s findings in the Sept. 6, 2014, incident was released by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department Friday.

Zachary McDaniel died at a local hospital after he was taken into custody following a stolen car report and chase, officials said.

Zachary Yohanna McDaniel, who was 19, died Sept. 14, 2014 – eight days after the incident, according to Leevy’s Funeral Home, which handled the arrangements.

Neither the sheriff’s department nor the coroner’s office reported the death publicly at the time. “We don’t normally put out a release if we chase someone and catch them,” sheriff’s department spokesman Curtis Wilson said late Friday night. Even though someone died “as a result of their own action, since there was no public danger, the sheriff’s department was under no obligation to issue a release,” he said.

While being pursued by deputies, McDaniel and another man jumped from the moving car and fled on foot, the sheriff’s department said in its Friday release. When deputies caught up with him, he was combative and resisted arrest, the release stated.

When he was finally taken into custody, deputies noticed McDaniel was having trouble breathing and called emergency medical services. Paramedics said their attempts to insert a breathing tube hit an obstruction. At the hospital, doctors found that McDaniel, by this point unresponsive and in cardiac arrest, had a bag of marijuana blocking his airway.

It took several attempts by doctors before the obstruction was removed. McDaniel was transferred to Palmetto Health Baptist Hospital’s ICU, where he was later pronounced brain dead and removed from life support, the sheriff’s department said.

An autopsy determined that McDaniel died from “anorix brain injury due to airway obstruction by a foreign body.” Four more bags of marijuana were also found in his gastrointestinal tract during the autopsy performed by Dr. Amy Durso.

Sheriff Leon Lott said the department takes all steps necessary to ensure the safety and well being of anyone in custody but, in this case, “Mr. McDaniels swallowed packages that unfortunately took his life.”

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 5:59 PM.