The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has determined that Albert Spann, 39, died from aspirating a baggie of cocaine he swallowed as deputies tried to restrain him during a Taser arrest near North Dixie Drive in May. The ruling closes a key question in a case that began with a trespassing call and ended with Spann unresponsive on the pavement, then dead at a Dayton hospital.
According to the coroner’s report as described by WDTN.com, Spann died of “aspiration of a foreign body, the baggie, with associated cocaine intoxication.” The finding puts an official cause behind a death that had gone unexplained for months after deputies encountered Spann on May 15.
That morning, officers were dispatched to the 5100 block of Embassy Place around 7:21 a.m. to respond to a trespassing complaint, according to the same WDTN report, which described the call as centered on the home of Spann’s former partner and child. Deputies reportedly had been warned that Spann had prior law-enforcement encounters, including a history of failing to comply and a previous Taser deployment.
From a Trespassing Call to a Roadside Struggle
Deputies located Spann walking in the middle of the road in the 5700 block of North Dixie Drive, the outlet reported. Spann reportedly did not comply with officers and continued walking into oncoming traffic, prompting deputies to deploy a Taser against him for what the report described as uncooperative behavior.
As deputies tried to secure Spann, he ingested a bag of cocaine and continued to resist, per the WDTN account. Once he was removed from the road, Spann became unresponsive and suffered a medical emergency. Medics attempted life-saving measures at the scene before he was taken to Kettering Health Dayton, where he later died.
Independent Investigation and Coroner’s Findings
The Dayton Police Department is investigating the incident and Spann’s death, a separate step from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office’s own review of the deputies’ actions that day. A related whio.com report confirmed that the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office identified the man as Albert Spann, 39, matching the identity WDTN reported in its coverage of the case.
WDTN 2 News says it is continuing to work to learn more about the case as it develops. The station’s reporting remains the primary account detailing how the cause-of-death finding was reached and what it means for the broader investigation into Spann’s death.
