BELTON - The $1 million bail that kept 17-year-old John Orland Thompson Jr. in jail for nearly a week was artificially high because of peripheral issues, according to officials involved with the case.

Thompson died early Sept. 11 after he awoke in Bell County Jail and began gasping for air. He was being held on a felony criminal mischief charge that claimed he stole a car and drove it into Lake Belton.

“I’m really sorry for the family’s loss,” said Judge G.W. Ivey, the justice of the peace who recommended the $1 million bail. “I sympathize with them, but I don’t think the judicial system created this.”

Justices of the peace frequently sign warrants and have wide discretion at recommending bail amounts. Ivey said in Thompson’s case he set a high bail amount at the request of a detective with the Belton Police Department who believed Thompson was not cooperating with the investigation.

Ivey said Thompson initially told authorities he did not remember anything that happened on the night of the incident.

Belton’s acting police chief, Jen Wesley, said Belton police made high bail a recommendation after consulting with the district attorney’s office to determine if there was enough probable cause to file a case.

“We did not recommend that the judge set a $1 million bond,” said Murff Bledsoe, first assistant district attorney. “We’re just sick about it that the young man died in jail.”

A prosecutor with the district attorney’s office did recommend a high bail amount, without specifying how high, to help protect people who were cooperating in the investigation and to prevent the situation from escalating.

Bledsoe said there was a concern about the number of young people who were witnesses or on the periphery of this case. The officer believed there might have been coercion and threats made and witnesses had expressed concern about cooperating, Bledsoe said.

“We knew that these people knew each other and went to school together,” Bledsoe said.

The idea was to send a clear message to the young people involved with the case that it was a serious felony. Thompson was arrested on a Friday and prosecutors hoped the weekend would allow the situation to calm down. They did not want young people to make a bad situation worse and potentially incur tampering or coercion charges, Bledsoe said.

On Sept. 8, Thompson’s attorney, Scott Stevens, contacted the district attorney’s office and the two sides began discussing conditions for a potential bail reduction.

After a hearing in 426th District Court on Sept. 10, Thompson’s bail was reduced to $20,000. In addition to the $20,000 bond, he was ordered that upon his release he was to have no contact with 13 people involved in the investigation. Thompson was also ordered to enroll in and attend school.

His parents have said they intended to bail Thompson out of jail the day he died, but they were notified of his death at 3 a.m. An autopsy to determine the cause of death is pending a toxicology test.

An inmate’s bail cannot be set prior to him being booked into jail and appearing before a magistrate. Judge Ted Duffield, justice of the peace in Precinct 1, sets most of the bail amounts in Bell County.

Duffield said when he set Thompson’s bail the only documentation available to him was the arrest warrant.

He said he noticed it seemed high for a criminal mischief charge and briefly considered reducing it.

Duffield said he often follows the recommended bail amount because he does not have all the information the justice of the peace who issued the warrant does.

The incident for which Thompson was charged happened on Aug. 24, according to a police report.

Belton police say Thompson and several other teens attended a party at the home of a girl whose parents were out of town. After the teens left the home, the girl told police her father’s 2001 Chevy Camaro Z-28 was missing from the garage.

It was found in 12 feet deep water. Witnesses said Thompson drove it into Lake Belton.