Drugs, Heart Attack Cited in Death

A drug-induced heart attack may have caused the death of a man being questioned by police Thursday in Oxnard, the coroner said.

Fernando Herrera, 25, of Oxnard apparently suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest “while police were attempting to control him due to his bizarre, erratic and threatening behavior,” said Ventura County Chief Medical Examiner Ronald O’Halloran.

An autopsy was performed Friday.

Herrera’s “extremely high body temperature” and his behavior, coupled with the drugs found in his pocket, suggest “that he may have been under the influence of a drug,” O’Halloran said.

Neither the coroner nor a spokesman for the Police Department could say what kind of drug was found on Herrera.

The strange incident began about 3:45 p.m. Thursday, when Oxnard police responded to a report of a man forcing his way into a house in the 700 block of G Street. The man claimed he was being shot at by an unknown individual, Sgt. Dan Christian said.

When police arrived, they found Herrera acting strangely and waving a knife, authorities said. Police eventually talked Herrera into throwing the knife down.

As he was being questioned by police and attended to by emergency medical personnel, Herrera tried to run away, Christian said. During a struggle with police, Herrera stopped breathing.

He was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center and pronounced dead around 4:30 p.m.

Friday’s autopsy provided no indication that a specific injury caused Herrera’s death. The coroner will now perform lab tests to determine if there were drugs in Herrera’s blood.

The tests could take up to two months, O’Halloran said.