EUGENE, Ore. -- After using spike strips to force the suspect in a hit-and-run accident to stop, state police took the man to the Lane County Jail to book him for drunk driving and other crimes.

One hitch: Jason Cord Menk blew a zero on the breath test for alcohol.

Less than two days later, he was dead.

The 40-year-old Seattle, Wash., man led state police on a 55 mph chase for almost 10 miles on Interstate 5 last Tuesday following a 3:30 p.m. report of a hit-and-run accident. | STORY

Menk pulled over after a trooper deployed spike strips to puncture the tires on Menk's Hyundai SUV.

Troopers took him into custody without incident, discovering a firearm and empty liquor bottles inside the vehicle.

At the jail, however, something wasn't right, said Lt. Mike Bloom with the Oregon State Police.

"We can't figure out if he's under the influence or he's got a mental health issue," Bloom said.

Police check Menk into ER

Around 5:30 p.m., jail staff conducted an evaluation on Menk. Officials decided they didn't know what was wrong with him. Police transported him to the emergency room at Sacred Heart University District on Hilyard Street around 7:51 p.m.

"We took him down to the hospital," Bloom said. "We cited and released him into the care of Sacred Heart."

Doctors there conducted a medical evaluation, according to Frank Ratti, an investigator with the Medical Examiner's Office.

"They observed him, and he did not need medical attention," Ratti said. "His explanation was he was anxious and sleepless due to a long trip."

Menk wasn't intoxicated, and he showed no signs of external or internal injury, according to an emergency room evaluation, Ratti said.

"He had already blown a zero in his breathalyzer test," he said. "He was definitely unsteady. They gave him some food, and he seemed to revive."

Sacred Heart released Menk shortly after 9 p.m., and he walked out of the downtown emergency room alone and into the Eugene night.

Witnesses later told medics Menk suffered a seizure and collapsed at a Eugene bus station, falling to the ground and striking his head around 10 p.m.

Medics responded to the scene and rushed Menks by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital at RiverBend, where he was admitted around midnight.

"At that point, he did have an injury over his right eye that was a laceration attributed to whatever fall happened to him at the bus station," Ratti said.

Doctors diagnosed Menk with intracranial bleeding -- internal bleeding inside his skull. Menk underwent surgery, but his condition deteriorated. He died at 12:23 p.m. on Thursday, less than 48 hours after the initial report of the hit-and-run accident.

Why did he die?

Dr. Dan Davis with the Oregon Medical Examiner's office conducted an autopsy Monday in an attempt to document the origin of the fatal injury. The hit-and-run accident had only caused minor damage to both vehicles, and the spike strips used by state police are designed to cause a slow deflation of tires. Menks had pulled over without incident before his arrest.

Ratti predicted Davis would rule the death an accident caused by the head injury suffered in a fall due to a seizure at the bus station.

Menk had been hospitalized in Seattle, Wash., around Christmas for seizures related to withdrawal from alcohol, Ratti said. His SUV, littered with empty liquor bottles, and his negative blood alcohol test results suggest he was not intoxicated at the time of his arrest and medical care.

At his family's behest, Menk's organs were harvested for donation after he died, Ratti said.