Suspect’s Death in Police Car Under Investigation

Police are investigating the death of a San Fernando Valley man in the back seat of a patrol car Thursday afternoon after a violent rampage through a Sylmar neighborhood.

Los Angeles Police Detective Stephen Fisk said the death of the 33-year-old man, who witnesses said was “frothing at the mouth” and screaming incoherently, appeared to be drug-related. Fisk said the cause of death could not be determined until an autopsy and toxicology tests are performed.

Identification Withheld

The victim, whose identity was withheld pending notification of relatives, was declared dead about 2 p.m. by a doctor at the Van Nuys Jail. Fisk said the man had been in police custody about 15 minutes when he died. He was monitored during the car trip by arresting Officers Joseph Penrod and Douglas Dingman to make sure he was breathing properly and was not hurting himself, Fisk said.

When they arrived at the jail, Fisk said, the officers realized the man had stopped breathing and they ran into the jail for a doctor. “The doctor ran out, and he was dead. It was that fast,” Fisk said.

The victim was arrested in the 15500 block of Bledsoe Street after he allegedly attacked an elderly couple who were getting into their car. Neighbors said the man appeared to be fighting with a mailbox and stumbling through bushes in a crazed fashion, Fisk said.

Asked whether the arresting officers should have called an ambulance instead of attempting to take the suspect to jail, Fisk defended the officers’ actions. Although the man’s behavior “was certainly bizarre,” he did not appear to be in any danger of death, Fisk said.

‘Too Violent’

“He was too violent to take to a hospital for any sort of treatment. By taking him to Van Nuys, he could be restrained in a jail facility until a determination could be made whether he was mentally ill” or under the influence of drugs, Fisk said.

Fisk said the man was restrained in the patrol car with handcuffs and a nylon cord that was wrapped around his ankles and attached to his belt buckle. He said the man screamed incoherently and struggled to get free throughout the ride.

Autopsy results should be available next week, but the results of toxicology tests will not be ready for a month or two, Fisk said.