Police: AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE Guitarist Died Of Prescription-Drug Overdose

April 20, 2005

MTV.com is reporting that the death of AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE guitarist Bryan Ottoson has been determined to be the result of a prescription-drug overdose, according to North Charleston, South Carolina police records. The 27-year-old musician's body was discovered Tuesday (April 19) in a sleeping bunk on the band's tour bus in North Charleston, where the group was set to play at the Plex club. Police found a pill bottle containing "numerous amounts of prescription medicine" in Ottoson's bed.

Members of AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE told police they last saw Ottoson alive at around 4 a.m. on the morning of April 18, just as the band was departing Jessup, Maryland, for North Charleston. Ottoson had consumed "a large amount of alcohol at a bar" in Jessup that evening, according to police documents.

Police were called to the scene at around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday evening; by that time, Ottoson was dead. Bassist Chad Hanks (known to fans by his stage name, Mr. H.C. Banks III) and guitarist Karma Cheema told police that Ottoson was a "heavy sleeper, and it was not uncommon for him to sleep late before a concert."

The report also claims police were told that Ottoson had been "consuming unknown prescription medications."

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