The facts took place in a cell of the police station of the 20th arrondissement in Paris, Wednesday evening. A 63-year-old man in police custody died there. An investigation has been opened to determine the causes, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. According to a source close to the investigation, the man, who was a drug addict, had felt unwell in the cell. Police officers and then the emergency services provided him with treatment on the spot, in vain, said the same source.
Cause of death still unknown
The man had been placed on Wednesday night in police custody for concealment of theft, said the Paris prosecutor’s office, which confirmed information from the Parisian. Found unconscious around 11:45 p.m., he was declared dead at 12:40 a.m.
An autopsy was “requested urgently”, said the prosecution, “in order to shed full light on the causes of death”. The investigation, opened in search of the causes of death, was entrusted to the police station of another district, that of the 15th, and the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN) was “notified as an observer”.