Early Morning Rampage : Test Results Awaited in Death After Arrest

Santa Ana police officials on Monday were awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine why a man died after being taken into custody by officers after he allegedly went on a Sunday morning rampage, vandalizing several homes.

The man, Joaquin Ruelas-Alzaga, 19, of Garden Grove, was pronounced dead at 4:47 a.m. Monday at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, where he was taken Sunday after being unable to breathe following a “lengthy struggle” with several officers, Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said.

An autopsy was conducted Monday by the county coroner’s office. Thomas said the cause of death was not immediately established.

Police said Ruelas-Alzaga appeared to be under the influence of drugs when, about 7 a.m. Sunday, he allegedly began running across rooftops and tearing down television antennas and Christmas lights in the 1600 block of Cubbon and Brook streets.

“He was behaving in a wild and bizarre manner, yelling and screaming,” Thomas said.

The rampage ended when Ruelas-Alzaga, who witnesses said was wearing only blue jeans and socks, went inside a home on Brook Street and was detained at gunpoint by a resident, Sergio Contreras, police said.

About half a dozen officers arrived at the house a few moments later and struggled briefly to subdue the suspect, who had taken refuge underneath a sewing machine and portable television set, said police.

Thomas said Ruelas-Alzaga “quit breathing” after the struggle and was administered resuscitation at the scene by Santa Ana Fire Department paramedics before being transferred to the hospital. Thomas said that the officers did not use weapons in subduing Ruelas-Alzaga and that he exhibited unusual strength in trying to prevent the police from removing him from beneath the sewing machine.

Juan Contreras, 16, said he and his brother Sergio were awakened by Ruelas-Alzaga, whom they found sitting in their bedroom and mumbling, “Get me out of here. Get me out of here,” while holding a 5-inch buck knife. The knife belonged to Juan Contreras, who said he obtained it as a member of the Santa Ana Police Explorers.

Juan Contreras said his brother Sergio, 24, an assembly worker, took the knife away. But Ruelas-Alzaga ran into the bedroom of their mother, Elisa, who lay sleeping. The brothers pursued the intruder into the room, Contreras said.

At his brother’s insistence, Juan ran into another room where the family’s 9-millimeter pistol and some ammunition were stored. He said he jammed in three rounds and ran back to his mother’s bedroom, where he handed the gun to his older brother. The older brother pointed the gun at the intruder.

“He (Ruelas-Alzaga) said, ‘Don’t shoot, man. Don’t shoot. I love you. I love you,’ ” the younger Contreras said.

When police arrived, Juan Contreras said, Ruelas-Alzaga panicked and tried to hide under a large sewing machine in his mother’s bedroom. The two brothers were ordered out of the room as “at least” five officers went in to subdue him, Juan Contreras said.

“We just heard some struggling and him (the intruder) saying, ‘Don’t take me. No. No,’ ” Juan Contreras said, adding that Ruelas-Alzaga passed out in the bedroom and was brought into the living room, where both police and paramedics tried in vain to revive him.