A man was found unconscious in the back of a police car at the San Diego Central Jail and later died in a hospital on Sunday. Acting Homicide Lt. Manuel Del Toro said officers responded to a disturbance created by the man in the 2900 block of Market Street around 12:45 a.m.
Police said he was under the influence of drugs and that he also possessed them. He was arrested and taken to Central Jail to be booked. Upon arrival, the officers found the man unconscious, Del Toro said. He was not breathing.
According to NBC7, the officers tried CPR but this did not illicit a response from the man, so they called an ambulance.
The man was taken to the UCSD Hospital and died just before 5:00 a.m. Homicide detectives were called to investigate.
“We do take this very seriously hence we do have a full homicide team out here with personnel from the lab conducting a full investigation. The officers [involved] will have to undergo a full investigation and they’ll be interviewed. They did have body worn cameras, where we have the entire incident on video. We’ll be investigating that as well,” said Del Toro to NBC7.
According to Del Toro, the man was cooperative when he was arrested and no force was used by the officers.
City News Service contributed to this article.