Drug Suspect Dies in Police Custody

A drug suspect who was in the custody of San Diego police died Thursday afternoon when he stopped breathing while awaiting a blood test at police headquarters downtown.

The 40-year-old man, whose name was being withheld until his relatives could be notified, had been picked up by officers responding to a complaint of a prowler in the 1900 block of Carmelina Drive in University Heights, according to Lt. John Welter of the Police Department’s homicide detail.

When the officers approached him, the man, who was carrying no identification, showed “obvious signs of narcotics intoxication,” and was arrested about 2:25 p.m., Welter said.

At police headquarters, the man appeared to stop breathing while handcuffed and lying on a bench in a waiting area where blood is drawn to test for intoxication, Welter said.

Police began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and paramedics were called. The suspect was taken to Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:37 p.m., Welter said.