Hooded by Police with a Suffocation Bag, Suspect Dies

By MIKE JOHNSON/ JS Online/ June 22, 2004

Mequon - A man died in Mequon police custody Saturday after an officer placed a high-tech protective hood over the man's head to shield the officer from saliva, the lead investigator on the case said Tuesday.

The officer believed that the device was a "spit bag," said Lt. Dean Roberts of the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Department. A "spit bag" is a restraint used to contain bodily fluids.

"The hood turned out not to be a spit bag. It actually was called a SURVIVAIR Quick2000 escape hood respirator," Roberts said.

Whether the hood, which protects against chemical and biological agents, caused or contributed to 20-year-old Matthew Sheridan's death was not known Tuesday.

The federal government has purchased thousands of the SURVIVAIR Quick2000 masks, which cover the head and neck, since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Richard Sustello, vice president of strategic marketing for Bacou-Dalloz, the parent company of SURVIVAIR, said Tuesday that someone "obviously misused" the escape hood.

The device is "clearly marked" for use to escape from hazardous chemical or biological environments, Sustello said. "I really don't understand how it could be confused with a spit bag."

Sustello said that warnings with the escape hood clearly state that "misuse can cause death or serious injury." He noted that the hood has an airtight rubber seal around the neck.

The device has filters, a mouthpiece and nose clip designed to prevent nasal breathing. If it's used incorrectly, the user would not be breathing fresh air, Sustello said.

An autopsy was conducted Sunday on Sheridan, of Mequon, but so far the results are inconclusive, Roberts said. Authorities are awaiting the results of toxicology tests.

No preliminary cause of death has been released. Roberts, Ozaukee County Coroner John Holicek and other officials would not say whether Sheridan suffocated.

Meanwhile, a Mequon police officer has been placed on administrative leave in connection with the incident. Mequon Police Chief E. Doyle Barker said the move is standard procedure.

The name of the officer was not being released on Tuesday.

Mequon police have declined comment about the case. Barker requested that the Sheriff's Department conduct the investigation into Sheridan's death.

Sheridan was arrested Saturday evening on a drug paraphernalia possession charge when the car in which he was riding was stopped after an attendant at a Citgo gas station, 11147 N. Port Washington Road, reported that the vehicle drove off without paying for gas at 5:18 p.m.

Bayside police stopped the vehicle on I-43 a short time later and called Mequon police.

Roberts said that Sheridan was placed in handcuffs with his hands behind his back and placed in the back seat of a Mequon squad car. The arrest occurred about 5:50 p.m., according to Mequon police records.

As Sheridan was being transported to the Mequon Police Department, he was able to get his hands in front of him, Roberts said.

"He became disruptive in the back of the squad car. He was kicking and spitting," Roberts said.

At that point, the Mequon officer, whom Roberts declined to name, requested help from other police agencies. Officers from Fox Point, Bayside and River Hills responded, Roberts said.

Five officers were on the scene, off I-43 and Good Hope Road. Sheridan again was handcuffed behind his back, what was believed to be the spit bag was placed over Sheridan's head, and he was placed back in the squad car and transported to Mequon, Roberts said.

Roberts would not identify the officer or which department the officer worked for who placed the hood over Sheridan's head.

After arriving at the department, Sheridan was found to be unresponsive, and someone started CPR on Sheridan at 6:41 p.m. A call for a rescue squad also was placed.

Sheridan was taken to Columbia St. Mary's, Ozaukee Campus, where he was pronounced dead.

Roberts said he still has a number of interviews to conduct with officers who responded to the incident.

He said he could not comment on whether Sheridan might have complained about having trouble breathing after the hood was placed over his head.

Sheridan was one of four men riding in the red Chevrolet Caprice when it was stopped by police.

Jose Nieto, 30, one of the four, said Tuesday that he and Daniel Ray Armstrong, 47, were put in one squad car, and Sheridan and Derek E. Brown each placed in separate squad cars and taken back to the Citgo station.

While in the squad car, Nieto, of Milwaukee, said he heard over the police radio that an officer said Sheridan was not breathing.

Armstrong, of Milwaukee, also said he heard over the police radio that Sheridan was kicking the seats in back of the squad car.

Sheridan had a history of run-ins with law enforcement, mostly Mequon police, dating back to May 2001.

He had been sentenced to one year of probation in June 2001 on drug charges and spent 30 days in the Ozaukee County Jail on a February 2002 battery charge.

In April he was charged with six felony counts of having sex with a 15-year-old Mequon girl.

Then last week, he was charged with an additional six counts - three misdemeanor counts of having sex with a 16-year-old Thiensville girl and three felony bail jumping counts.

Lawrence Sussman of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

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