Family sues officials for teen’s suicide days after he was arrested, expelled over vape pen 

The family of a 15-year-old Indiana boy who killed himself after he was arrested and expelled over a vape pen containing marijuana has filed a lawsuit against the school district and sheriff’s office claiming the teen’s civil rights were violated.

Jase Emilys — a player on the school football team — took his own life three days after he was arrested inside the Charlestown High School on May 20 when police found a vape pen containing marijuana fluid in his locker, according to WHAS 11.

In addition to the arrest, Jase’s family said he was expelled from the school, barring him from playing on his beloved football team in a “punishment that did not fit the crime.”

“Finding out he wasn’t going to be able to play the next year, it was rough for him,” his mother Elyce said. “And it didn’t hit us of what that might do to him until after he was gone.”

The family’s attorney, Gordon Ingle, claimed that the Greater Clark County School District and Clark County Sheriff’s Office had overreached their authority when they inspected the 15-year-old’s locker and questioned him.

“We don’t believe they had probable cause to check his locker,” Ingle told the local outlet. “They did a criminal investigation and they talked to him, which is a violation of the law because before you can talk to a juvenile, you have to give that juvenile the chance to have meaningful consultation with someone, in this case, a parent.

“This was just police overreach if there ever were any,” he added.

Elyce said Jase was humiliated when he was handcuffed at school and taken away to the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center.

She claimed she was not made aware of the incident until he was already being transported to juvie.

Police said Jase was in possession of a vape pen that tested positive for marijuana, with the type of pen brand containing an 83% THC level, according to the arrest record.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the Emilys ultimately accused the school district and sheriff’s office of wrongfully arresting and detaining the teen and violating his constitutional rights.

“There’s no acknowledgment there that what they did was wrong,” Elyce added.

“We just don’t want any other family to have to go through what we did. We want Jase back but that’ll never happen.”

The district and sheriff’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The district prohibits any and all illegal drug use on campus, as well as the use of vape pens and e-cigarettes, according to its student handbook.