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OKC Police Body Camera Footage Shows Struggle Preceding Olain Jefferson Jr.'s In-Custody Death

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Oklahoma County jail staff after Olain Jefferson, Jr. arrived at the jail in May 2020.

Oklahoma City Police released body camera footage last week of Olain Jefferson Jr. being restrained at an Oklahoma City hospital in late May. The Oklahoma City Chapter of Black Lives Matter demanded the footage be released after protests this summer.

Jefferson was 56-years-old when he went to Integris Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City complaining of shortness of breath, coughing and tightness in his chest.

Hospital staff said Jefferson threw a phone at them and was combative.

An Oklahoma City Police officer’s body camera footage shows hospital staff and police restraining Jefferson in a room of the hospital. At one point, an Integris employee says “take him to jail.”

After restraining Jefferson, police took him to the Oklahoma County Jail. They say Jefferson resisted jail staff and then suffered a “medical event.” Jail staff tried to revive him but eventually took him to another hospital where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy report from the State Medical Examiner’s Office indicates Jefferson’s probable cause of death was a blood clot in one of his legs. It’s unclear when he developed the clot.

Jefferson also suffered from heart disease and his urine tested positive for PCP. The report says those conditions combined with the struggle could have contributed to his death.

The Oklahoman reported Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater cleared everyone involved in Jefferson’s restraint of wrongdoing.

Rev. T Sheri Dickerson, executive director of Oklahoma City Black Lives Matter says Jefferson’s humanity was denied. She says he came to a hospital seeking treatment and even if he became combative he should never have been taken to jail.

The Oklahoman has posted the https://youtu.be/NteYpgnZj4Y" target="_blank">four minute video here.

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Quinton Chandler worked at StateImpact Oklahoma from January 2018 to August 2021, focusing on criminal justice reporting.
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