Ethan Saylor’s mom endorses sheriff’s opponent

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — The mother of a man with Down syndrome who died in the custody of three off-duty deputies is joining a campaign to oust the Frederick County sheriff.

Democratic nominee Karl Bickel says Patti Saylor’s endorsement on Wednesday demonstrates their shared commitment to making the county safer for everyone.

Twenty-six-year-old Robert Ethan Saylor of New Market was asphyxiated in January 2013 during a struggle with three deputies moonlighting as mall security officers as they tried to remove him from a movie theater because he had no ticket for a second viewing of a film.

An autopsy ruled the death a homicide but a grand jury refused to indict the officers.

Republican Sheriff Chuck Jenkins has since embraced a Mount Saint Mary’s University program that trains officers about people with intellectual disabilities.

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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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