Death of Arrested Man Investigated
Police are investigating the death of a suspect who was held in the back seat of a police patrol car after a violent rampage through a Sylmar neighborhood.
Los Angeles Police Detective Stephen Fisk said Friday that 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 will be determined after an autopsy and toxicology tests are performed.
The victim, whose identity was withheld pending notification of relatives, was declared dead about 2 p.m. Thursday by a doctor at the Van Nuys Jail. Fisk said the man had been in police custody about 15 minutes when he died.
By the time police arrived at the jail, officers realized the man had stopped breathing and they ran inside for a doctor, Fisk said.
The man was dead when the doctor got to the car. “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 he appeared to be fighting with a mailbox and stumbling through bushes in a crazed fashion, Fisk said.
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