Coroner: Restrained inmate died of meth intoxication

LIBERTY, Ky. (AP) – A Kentucky coroner says an inmate who was restrained at a county jail died from methamphetamine intoxication.

Casey County jailers found 34-year-old Jerry Dale Hardwick dead in a restraint chair at the facility on July 5. Casey County Coroner Curt Demrow told The Advocate-Messenger (http://bit.ly/2bs38j3) that a toxicology report finalized last week lists methamphetamine intoxication as the primary cause of death. Demrow says Hardwick’s meth levels were “very high.”

He says ethanol withdrawal and dehydration were contributing conditions.

The Casey County Sheriff’s Office has said Hardwick was jailed on the day he died on charges of public intoxication, fleeing police, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief. Demrow says Hardwick was placed in the restraint chair because he was combative.

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Information from: The (Danville, Ky.) Advocate-Messenger, http://www.centralkynews.com/amnews

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.