LEBANON, Tenn. (WTVF) — A man has died after investigators say he collapsed after being placed under arrest by Wilson County deputies. Update: Autopsy says man placed under arrest died from meth and not blunt force
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed that Jacob Ross Nopens died Saturday. He had been in a coma since an incident on Rutledge Lane in which deputies tried to arrest him.
Deputies were responding to a domestic incident when things apparently escalated.
The TBI's preliminary report said Nopens collapsed and became unresponsive while deputies tried to arrest him.
However, family members said Nopens was walking with his son when deputies approached him and took his son away. They said the deputies continued to beat him after he begged them to stop.
Nopens was initially taken to a hospital in Lebanon but was later moved to a Nashville hospital, where he later died.
The TBI is handling the investigation, per a request from the Wilson County Sheriff's Office.
According to family, the incident was caught on cellphone video, but the device was taken by deputies and the TBI.
The Wilson County Sheriff told NewsChannel 5 that a squad car dash cam also captured part of the incident but did not show his deputies using excessive force.
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