Norwich ― The Office of Inspector General is investigating the circumstances that led to the death of a 28-year-old Salem man who was detained by Norwich police in September and later died in the hospital.

Jacob J. Evans died Oct. 1 at Yale New Haven Hospital, two weeks after his interaction with several Norwich police officers in the woods outside a restaurant on West Town Street.

A month after his death, the official cause and manner of Evans’ death are still pending, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The lack of information surrounding her son’s death, coupled with the discovery that his throat and lungs were clogged with leaves and dirt, has Evans’ mother questioning his treatment by police.

“I’m just trying to figure out what happened to my kid, my only son. When you don’t know, you think of all these scenarios. Your mind plays horrible games with your head,” Donna Dunphy of Lisbon, his mother, said.

Dunphy said she received a call from Backus Hospital in Norwich at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 15. Her son had been brought in by an ambulance and was unresponsive with a 105-degree temperature. He was fighting for his life.

When she got a chance to see Evans in the hospital, Dunphy said “my son looked like he got hit by a car.” Evans was treated at Backus Hospital and later at Yale-New Haven Hospital but never regained consciousness before his death on Oct. 1.

She said she was told by hospital personnel that her son had breathed in leaves, dirt and debris that had gotten into his airways and lungs and he later developed rhabdomyolysis, a medical condition that can lead to organ damage, kidney failure and even death. Dunphy said by the time Evans reached Yale New Haven Hospital, an infection from his lungs had spread to his brain.

“They were all dumbfounded,” Dunphy said of hospital staff. “They were asking me all these questions about how he was found.”

Dunphy could not answer any of the questions and had turned to Norwich police, requesting reports and records, along with body camera footage that she thought could shed some light on what happened.

A short and highly redacted police report obtained from Norwich police showed that police were called to Illiano’s restaurant at 257 W. Town St. to investigate a report of a suspicious man, later identified as Evans, outside the business. Evans had come to the rear of the restaurant, “banging on the door asking for water,” the report states.

Police found Evans in the woods at the rear of the business near a river, wearing boxer shorts, “screaming and rolling in the dirt,” the police report from Norwich Police Officer Matthew Pagan states.

“Evans appeared to be under the influence due to his behavior. Evans began to be highly agitated when I attempted to pick him off the ground. Evans began to be combative by kicking his legs. Evans was placed in double-locking handcuffs. I observed small lacerations on Evans face from laying in pricker bushes,” the report states.

Three of the six paragraphs in the report obtained by Dunphy and shared with The Day are redacted. The last line in the Sept. 15, 2024, report says “Case Status: Closed (Report Taken). Evans was not charged with any crime.

While her son has had past substance-abuse issues, Dunphy said it has never led to any crimes and he never hurt anyone. He also voluntarily attended a program in East Haddam called Adult & Teen Challenge Connecticut Men’s Center, where Dunphy said her son sought rehabilitation and faith. Dunphy carries the cross her son had worn since his time with the organization.

Dunphy and The Day have filed requests for the officers’ body camera footage of interactions with Evans. Dunphy requested the body camera footage even before her son died and said she suspects police are stalling its release.

“My thought was maybe when they reviewed this footage they themselves saw something and said, oh (expletive),” Dunphy said. “I want to see what these officers ― three of them ― did to my son.”

Dunphy thinks that maybe her son was having a medical emergency but has not yet been able to obtain detailed medical records. She also visited the site where her son was found where she said she found his shoes, his shorts and a police baton on the ground.

Norwich police did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the case. The single incident report released to Dunphy from the police department shows that along with Pagan, officers Javier Santiago and Richard Cannata, along with personnel from the Yantic Fire Department, responded that evening.

The Office of Inspector General, in a statement on Friday, said the “in-custody death investigation was initiated on Oct. 18 based on a report made to the office by the mother of Dunphy.”

g.smith@theday.com