Man Dies After Fight With Police

A 32-year-old man who stopped breathing Tuesday during a struggle with deputies died at a San Clemente hospital, police said.

Patrick Wayne McClellan of Laguna Beach was pronounced dead at 9:52 a.m., an hour after a skirmish with two Orange County sheriff’s deputies in front of an apartment complex in the 3300 block of Avenida del Presidente in San Clemente, department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The department declined to release the deputies’ names. They suffered cuts and abrasions and were treated at the scene, Amormino said.

A resident called authorities about 8:30 a.m. to complain about a person acting suspiciously, Amormino said. Deputies arrived and found McClellan “acting bizarre and possibly under the influence of narcotics,” Amormino said. “He was pacing around the complex, acting strange.”

McClellan lunged at one of the deputies and took his service revolver out of its holster, Amormino said. The deputy was able to grab his weapon and return it to his holster, but McClellan continued to struggle with the deputies for about two minutes, Amormino said, prompting them to use pepper spray. As the deputies handcuffed him, they noticed he was not breathing and called paramedics.

McClellan was taken to San Clemente Hospital and Medical Center, where he died. An autopsy is being conducted.

The deputies did not use control holds or batons on McClellan, Amormino said. McClellan had a record for narcotics violations and was released from Orange County Jail last month after serving time for a domestic violence conviction, Amormino said.