DIETRICH — The investigation into a Dietrich man found dead in his home last week continues as first responders recover from nitrogen exposure, the Lincoln County sheriff said Tuesday.
Thomas Young, 62, was discovered lying next to a cannister of then-unknown gas — later identified as nitrogen — Thursday morning.
Dietrich Mayor Don Heiken told reporters last week that Young was a former city employee who was fired on May 9 after an altercation that involved police.
Tom Young was listed as an employee with the Public Works Department on the Dietrich city website as of late Tuesday afternoon.
Young was arrested on May 9 — the same day that Heiken says he fired him — after police were dispatched to Dietrich City Hall for a report of an argument, court records say.
A woman who had come to city hall to pay a water bill told police she witnessed a heated argument between Young and another employee, a Lincoln County deputy wrote in an affidavit.
The woman said she started to record the argument between Young and his coworker because she had never seen Young so upset, according to the affidavit.
When the woman called 911 on an office phone, Young attempted to grab the office phone away from her, punching her chin with his fist in the process, she said.
The employee Young was arguing with told police Young frequently got angry at coworkers and that others in the office were afraid of him, according to the deputy’s affidavit.
Initial tests of Dietrich city water came back clean, but a boil advisory was still in effect as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Michael Brown, drinking water and engineering manager with the Department of Environmental Quality.