Club guard dies after being punched

Lake Township man was punched in parking lot of South Toledo strip club

10/7/2012

A Lake Township man has died a week after he was punched while in the parking lot of a South Toledo strip club.

The death of John R. White, 38,  was reported Saturday to the Lucas County coroner's office, said Dr. Diane Barnett, a deputy coroner.

An autopsy is pending.

Mr. White was punched about 2:55 a.m. Sept. 29 outside Deja Vu, 135 S. Byrne Rd., where he worked security, by a man who had been asked to leave the club, according to a Toledo police report.

The man said he was going to shoot everyone in the place and, once outside, punched two club security workers, including Mr. White, police said. 

Mr. White fell backward and hit the pavement, Dr. Barnett said. He suffered a skull fracture, according to an affidavit Toledo police filed in Toledo Municipal Court.

Mr. White was taken to University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio, where he died. Police did not report whether the other security worker needed medical care.

The man ran through the club's parking lot and jumped a fence. Toledo police stopped and arrested Jamieius Smith, 29, of 2029 Southmoor Dr., and he was charged with felonious assault. Municipal Court Judge Timothy Kuhlman set bond on Monday at $500,000. Smith -- whose first name also is spelled Jamieus in some documents -- remained in the Lucas County jail Saturday night.