Md. seeks dismissal of custody death lawsuit

BALTIMORE (AP) — The state of Maryland is seeking dismissal of allegations in a federal lawsuit that it contributed to the wrongful death of a man with Down syndrome who suffocated in the custody of three Frederick County sheriff’s deputies moonlighting as mall security guards.

The attorney general’s office said in a document filed late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore that Robert Ethan Saylor was arrested because he was trespassing, stealing and disobeying police — not because the officers hadn’t been properly trained.

The 26-year-old New Market man died in January 2013 as deputies tried to remove him from a movie theater because he didn’t have a ticket for a repeat viewing of “Zero Dark Thirty.”

Saylor’s family also is suing Regal Cinemas and mall operator Hill Management Services of Timonium.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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