BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge has allowed a lawsuit to move forward against three Frederick County sheriff’s deputies in the death of a man with Down syndrome.

The Washington Post reports (http://wapo.st/1vDLboA ) that U.S. District Judge William Nickerson issued a scathing, 54-page ruling in the case Thursday, saying “a man died over the cost of a movie ticket.”

Robert Ethan Saylor died of asphyxiation last January. Saylor had watched a movie with his caregiver and went back into the Frederick theater for a repeat showing without paying.

The deputies wrestled the flailing, cursing, nearly 300-pound Saylor out of his seat and down an exit ramp where they handcuffed him after police say he fell or was dropped onto his belly. Saylor went into cardiac arrest and lost consciousness, and died shortly after.

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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com

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