Nicholas Andrew Clason

Less-than-lethal force

Responding to a 911 call, police found Clason acting erratically. Dashcam footage shows that while Clason lay on the ground, an officer pepper sprayed him. Clason then submitted to arrest. Three officers restrained him face down in the dirt. After the officer who had applied pressure to Clason's neck/head noticed he was not breathing, he radioed that Clason had "inhaled a large amount of dirt." Clason died on 07/14/11 at Kootenai Medical Center. The medical examiner reported that he "stopped breathing because of methamphetamine toxicity, and that after he was resuscitated he died of a lack of oxygen to the brain," and that he "didn't die because of the way police restrained him."