A 47-year-old man died after being arrested by Richmond police Wednesday morning.
About 10:35 a.m., officers responded to a call from a business owner in the 12600 block of San Pablo Avenue, which is between Solano and Garvin avenues, about a man creating a disturbance in the business and damaging property, police said.
Arriving officers found the man, who has not yet been identified, “stumbling around” and then falling to the ground, police said. Officers believed he was in medical distress or under the influence of drugs.
While the man remained on the ground, officers stood near him attempting to calm him and provide medical assistance while awaiting ambulance and fire personnel, which arrived in about three to five minutes, Richmond police spokesperson Sgt. Aaron Pomeroy said. When medical personnel attempted treatment, the man resisted, and the decision was made to place him in handcuffs to keep him still, Pomeroy said.
According to police, “Officers placed him in a prone position while one officer placed his knee on the individual’s lower back to handcuff him.”
Pomeroy said the man remained in this position for a “minimal amount of time.” He was subsequently placed in a gurney and the handcuffs were removed before ambulance personnel transported the man to a local hospital, where he passed away at about noon, he said.
The man’s cause of death was not immediately known and is under investigation.
Per county protocol, the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office is conducting an
independent investigation into the incident.
Anyone who may have any information related to this incident is asked to contact Homicide Detective Savannah Stewart at (510) 620-6541, email her at [email protected] or they can contact Richmond’s anonymous tip line at (510) 307-T1PS (8177).
