A man who was causing a disturbance at a Culver City apartment on Jan. 12, was incoherent and kicked at police when they handcuffed him.
He became ill immediately after he was handcuffed and was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, said a sheriff’s sergeant.
The sheriff’s Homicide Bureau was assisting in investigating the death of the unnamed 46-year-old man, said Sgt. Harry Drucker in the Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.
Culver City police officers responded to a disturbance call at an apartment in the 3900 block of Van Buren Place at 1:05 p.m., Drucker said.
“The reporting party said her son was under the influence of drugs and was destroying furniture,” he said.
The man did not cooperate with officers. Instead, he tried to hide under a bed, Drucker said.
“The officers were forced to pull the disturbing party out from under the bed,” he said “The man was mumbling incoherently and kicked at the officers as they handcuffed him.”
“Immediately after he was handcuffed, the man stopped fighting and appeared pale,” Drucker said.
The officers immediately called for paramedics and removed the handcuffs. The man was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“The sheriff’s department and district attorney’s Force Investigation’s Unit responded because the man was in custody at the time he went into distress,” Drucker said.
A search of the man’s bedroom revealed narcotics paraphernalia and what was believed to be methamphetamine, according to police.
The man’s mother told authorities her son had a history of drug abuse.
The man’s name was not released and the official cause of his death will be determined by an autopsy.
