Father worried son's mental health was overlooked before he died in Clay jail

The father of a 19-year-old inmate who died Tuesday in the Clay County jail said he was told his son was in a restrictive suit and a restraint chair when a deputy noticed something wrong.

Considering bizarre behavior that led to Daniel Linsinbigler Jr.'s arrest, he should have been treated for mental instability in a medical setting and not as an unruly prisoner, his father said Thursday.

The 46-year-old Linsinbigler, who lives in Fort Pierce, said he has been told by two law enforcement officers that his son was in a restraint chair when he was discovered. One of the officers said the teenager was also wearing a suit designed to restrict movement.

Apart from saying the 19-year-old was found unconscious by a guard making his normal rounds about 9 a.m. and that attempts were made to revive him, authorities said they are not releasing additional information until an investigation is complete.

Linsinbigler was on medication for hallucinations and other mental health issues during a 15-month jail stint in Jacksonville that ended in November, Daniel Linsinbigler Sr. said. Those charges included stolen property, car burglary and minor marijuana possession.

He couldn't afford the medication after his release leading up to his March 2 arrest in Clay County,10 days before he died.

Linsinbigler Sr. said he was told his son had been smoking synthetic marijuana but not in the week before being taken into custody in Clay after running naked around a Wells Road hotel claiming to be God.

"Nobody in their right mind calls themselves God and runs down the road naked in 30-degree weather," his father said.

His son was keeping a notebook "saying God is right," he said. "He told me, 'Dad, dad, I got a spiritual awakening.''

On March 3, the day after the arrest, Linsinbigler called the Clay jail to ask that his son get a mental health evaluation.

Coincidentally he called the jail again on March 12. He was told by a supervisor that the younger Linsinbigler had died that morning.

He had been combative and refused to come out of his cell, his father was told, so was placed in a restraint chair and watched.

"I was told they were checking every 15 minutes," he said.

When paramedics couldn't resuscitate him, Linsinbigler was taken to Orange Park Medical Center where he died, the Sheriff's Office initial report said. It did not say if he was restrained in any way.

Linsinbigler's father said an investigator with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement assigned to the case also told him his son was in the chair and also in a suit that hampers movement.

"I'm aware that there are questions about that," Clay sheriff's spokeswoman Mary Justino said. "His detention treatment is obviously part of our investigation into his detention death."

She said the agency cannot comment further and that the FDLE was called to conduct an investigation.

That agency also will not comment, said spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger.

"It's our job to determine the facts and until the investigative process is complete, the facts have not been established," she said.

The results of an autopsy have not been released. It is not unusual for certain tests, such as toxicology screenings, to delay a report.

Linsinbigler Sr. said part of his concern stems from what he learned during his own jail time in Duval County.

He said he had mental health evaluations and suffers from some of the same issues as his son.

"I just want to find out why Daniel died," he said.

Dana Treen: (904) 359-4091