The family of a 37-year-old man who died in September while Bismarck police were leading him from his apartment will conduct their own investigation.

The Bismarck Police Department closed its investigation last week after getting Jeff Fredericks' autopsy results, Police Detective Gary Malo said. Jeff Fredericks died of natural causes and there was never any indication of negligence by officers, Malo said.

According to the autopsy, the cause of Jeff Fredericks' death was cardiac arrhythmia or an irregular heartbeat caused by "arteriosclerotic and hypertensive" heart disease. Toxicology tests came back negative for toxins in his system.

Jeff Fredericks' brother, Keith, said he and other family members don't agree with the results of the autopsy or the police investigation. He said his brother didn't have any health problems, and routinely ran and lifted weights.

"We are going to have a second autopsy done and we'll go from there," Keith Fredericks said. "We don't agree with the state medical examiner."

State Medical Examiner Dr. George Mizell declined comment, referring questions to the Bismarck Police Department.

Jeff Fredericks shared an 1114 Jefferson Ave. apartment with another brother, George. Both men, originally from Halliday, were developmentally disabled and relied heavily on each other to get by, Keith Fredericks said. They moved to Bismarck from Grand Forks in 1997.

"They both had their strong characteristics and weaknesses. They complimented each other. That's how they lived alone together," Keith Fredericks said. "Like any siblings, they would fight."

A September fight brought authorities to their residence. Police said George Fredericks called 911 from a neighbor's apartment after his brother allegedly punched him and split open his right cheek.

According to police reports, officers calmed the "agitated and irate" Jeff Fredericks, handcuffed him and started to lead him to a police car. He fell twice as he was being led out of the apartment, the second time going into convulsions and vomiting.

When paramedics, who were already on the way to treat George Fredericks, arrived, Jeff Fredericks was breathing and had a pulse. That changed as he was being carried to the ambulance. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was administered, and he was taken to Medcenter One hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Keith Fredericks said authorities should have called a family member or social worker to help with the arrest, because of his brother's disabilities. He said that George Fredericks' version of what happened that night conflicted with police officers' claims that Jeff Fredericks didn't resist arrest.

"George said Jeff was saying 'I don't want to go. I'm not going' and dug his feet into the carpet," Keith Fredericks said. "The next time he saw Jeff, they were dragging him out with his head down."

Malo said the arrest was recorded by a video system located in one of the patrol cars. Although the incident occurred out of camera range, the system recorded audio through a microphone attached to the officer's uniform.

"There was no incident. No struggle whatsoever," Malo said.

An outside agency likely would've been called in to investigate if anything suspicious had occurred or if there was any question that the officers had been negligent, Malo said.

The Frederickses will meet with their attorney today, and review the autopsy results.

"Our investigation has just begun," Keith Fredericks said. "We will continue to seek justice for Jeff."

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)