Man Collapses, Dies After Struggle With Police

A man collapsed and died Thursday after a struggle that began when he tried to choke a female police officer at a Reseda police station, authorities said.

Luis Zeledon, 36, was pronounced dead at Northridge Hospital Medical Center about 10 hours after the 6 a.m. incident. Police said they did not know why he collapsed and stopped breathing after a struggle with officers at the West Valley Division Jail. An autopsy will determine the cause of his death.

Lt. William Hall said Zeledon was arrested early Thursday after drinking and fighting with a roommate in a Reseda apartment. The roommate was cut on the forehead with a knife during the fight and Zeledon’s nose was broken.

While rookie Officer Leticia Yanecko, 26, was booking him into the station’s jail, Zeledon suddenly turned on her, Hall said.

“The guy had been real cooperative all night, and then all of a sudden he flipped out and attacked the female officer,” said Hall, who heads the unit that investigates deaths involving police officers.

At least four officers who heard Yanecko’s calls for help rushed into the small booking room, pulled Zeledon off her and overpowered him, Hall said. During the struggle, Zeledon’s nose began bleeding again but there was no other visible injury, Hall said.

After he was subdued and his hands and feet were bound, officers noticed that he had stopped breathing, and he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Although Zeledon had been drinking, investigators did not know if he had taken drugs before his arrest, Hall said.

Hall said Yanecko was severely bruised, but the other officers were not injured. Yanecko was not hospitalized.