Settlement reached in lawsuit over disabled man’s death

BALTIMORE – The family of a Maryland man with Down syndrome who died from asphyxiation in 2013 when three sheriff’s deputies tried to forcibly remove him from a movie theatre has settled a lawsuit against the state and others.

News outlets report that the parents of Robert Ethan Saylor have recently agreed to settle a long-running lawsuit against the state, the deputies and a management company for $1.9 million.

Saylor died five years ago as the off-duty deputies struggled to remove him from a movie theatre because he hadn’t purchased a ticket for a second viewing of a film. The deputies were moonlighting as security guards.

The death was ruled a homicide but the deputies weren’t charged.