58-Year-Old Man Dies in Custody at Van Nuys Jail
A man arrested on suspicion of public drunkenness died in police custody Saturday of an apparent heart attack, police said.
The 58-year-old man was arrested in the 19200 block of Roscoe Boulevard and booked at the Van Nuys Jail about 9:25 a.m., said Lt. Tim Moss of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division. The man, whose name was not released, was given a medical screening at the jail that revealed no illness or injury, Moss said.
“He was 58 years old, alcoholic and extremely overweight,” Moss said. “Apparently his heart gave out on him.”
A watch commander at the jail, Richard Graff, declined to discuss the incident.
The death is being investigated by the LAPD’s robbery-homicide division, which investigates all deaths that occur in police custody, Moss said.
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