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Man Dies In Police Custody

POSTED: 1:13 pm MST October 4, 2007
UPDATED: 1:36 pm MST October 4, 2007

Just days after a New York woman died in Phoenix police custody at Sky Harbor Airport, a 41-year-old man died after being arrested in a Phoenix park.

Phoenix police said officers spotted a car in front of a known drug house near 24th Avenue and Roeser Road shortly before midnight Wednesday.

A short time later, they spotted the same car in front of another known drug house in the same neighborhood.

The officers waited until the car left the house, then tried to make a traffic stop a few blocks away.

Police said the driver did not immediately pull over. Instead, he continued on for a few blocks before stopping the car and getting out. He started to walk away, then turned around and got back into the car.

The officers approached the car as the man was getting back in and told him to get out of the vehicle.

Witnesses told police the officers were on both sides of the car, trying to open the doors, when the driver sped away.

The officers caught up with the man near 23rd Avenue and Roeser Road.

Police said the man drove his car off the road, into a nearby park.

When he bailed out of the car and started running, police said, the officers caught up with him on foot.

Police said the man fought the officers as they tried to take him into custody. Backup officers arrived to help take the man into custody.

Police said the officers used only physical force to arrest the man -- no Tasers or pepper spray was used.

The man was arrested at 12:03 a.m. Shortly after he was handcuffed, he became unresponsive. Police said they called for paramedics at 12:06 a.m.

The man was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly before 1 a.m.

An autopsy will determine the cause of death.

The Phoenix Police Department's homicide unit and Professional Standards Bureau will investigate the incident, which is standard in in-custody deaths.

This in-custody death occurred just days after a New York woman died in Phoenix police custody at Sky Harbor Airport. Read the full story.

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