The San Marcos Police Department held a press conference on Thursday to discuss the death of a Leander man who was in police custody.
The man, who has been identified as Dennis Thornton, was arrested Tuesday night after multiple reports of him acting erratically on the I-35 overpass above Posey Road.
“The first officer arrived 11 minutes [after the 911 calls]. The man later identified as Dennis Ryan Thornton was found leaning on the inside of the jersey barrier that separates southbound and northbound lanes,” San Marcos Police Chief Stan Standridge said.
According to Standridge, Thornton failed to comply with orders given by the officer, was unintelligible and at one point charged at the responding officer. When Thornton continued to fail to comply with orders, the responding officer tased him.
“Another officer arrived at this time. Mr. Thornton had fallen to the ground on his left side. When he tried to get back up, officers worked to prevent that, trying to contain his movement,” Standridge said.
Thornton resisted being handcuffed, which led officers to place him in a wrap restraint after being cuffed.
Due to Thornton’s behavior, the officers on scene deemed he was having a medical emergency and decided to take him to Christus Santa Rosa Hospital. They did not wait for EMS to arrive on scene to transport Thornton.
“I don’t believe that is standard procedure. In fact, if we believe that we have a medical emergency, the faster we can pass that patient off to EMS, the better we are,” Standridge said.
When Thornton arrived at the hospital he had a temperature of 108. After receiving 51 minutes of medical care, he was pronounced dead at 8:20 p.m.
According to Standridge, earlier on Tuesday, Thornton had been reported to the New Braunfels police when at a doctor’s appointment for his girlfriend at Resolute Baptist Hospital. Thornton was gone by the time detectives arrived.
Standridge said that they will not know until the investigation is over, but it is possible that Thornton walked all the way to San Marcos after leaving Resolute Baptist.
“He did not take [the girlfriend’s] vehicle, so we would assume he was on foot,” Standridge said.
According to Jim Swisher, the deputy chief of San Marcos EMS the heat combined with the possibility of Thornton being on stimulant drugs and possible preexisting health conditions, could have caused such a high body temperature.
“All of that is kind of the perfect storm to bring about this type of erratic behavior. This hyperactive delirium,” Swisher said
An autopsy will be performed by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office to confirm the cause of death, where Thornton will be tested for drugs.
The officers responding have not been interviewed yet, but the first officer to respond has been placed on administrative leave pending a psychological evaluation.
There are three concurrent investigations into the incident, each by a different group: The Texas Rangers, the San Marcos Criminal Investigation Division and SMPD’s office of professional conduct, also known as internal affairs.
Standridge said that due to San Marcos communications policy, officer-worn body camera footage will not be released until after a grand jury reviews the case and decides if any charges should be pressed.
