Autopsy Set for Violent Man Who Died in Police Custody

Police are investigating the death of a San Fernando Valley man in the back seat of a patrol car after a violent rampage through a Sylmar neighborhood.

Los Angeles Police Detective Stephen Fisk said Friday that the death of the 33-year-old man, who witnesses said was “frothing at the mouth” and screaming incoherently, appeared to be drug-related. Fisk said the cause of death would not be determined until an autopsy and toxicology tests are performed.

The man, whose identity was withheld pending notification of relatives, was declared dead about 2 p.m. Thursday by a doctor at Van Nuys Jail. Fisk said the man had been in police custody about 15 minutes when he died. He was monitored during the car trip by arresting Officers Joseph Penrod and Douglas Dingman to make sure that he was breathing properly and was not hurting himself, Fisk said.

When they arrived at the jail, Fisk said, the officers realized that the man had stopped breathing and they ran into the jail for a doctor. “The doctor ran out, and he was dead,” Fisk said. “It was that fast.”

Attack Alleged

The man was arrested in the 15500 block of Bledsoe Street after he allegedly attacked an elderly couple who were getting into their car. Neighbors said the man appeared to be fighting with a mailbox and stumbling through bushes, Fisk said.

Asked whether the arresting officers should have called an ambulance instead of attempting to take the suspect to jail, Fisk defended the officers’ actions. Although the man’s behavior “was certainly bizarre,” he did not appear to be in danger of dying, he said.

“He was too violent to take to a hospital for any sort of treatment. By taking him to Van Nuys, he could be restrained in a jail facility until a determination could be made whether he was mentally ill” or under the influence of drugs, Fisk said.

Fisk said the man was restrained in the patrol car with handcuffs and a nylon cord that was wrapped around his ankles and attached to his belt buckle. He said the man screamed incoherently and struggled to get free throughout the ride.

Autopsy results should be available next week, but the results of toxicology tests will not be ready for a month or two, Fisk said.