Dusseldorf
Man loses consciousness in police custody and dies
The police in Düsseldorf were called on Monday because of a tangible dispute between two men. Photo: David Inderlied / dpa / Symbolbild
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Police arrested a 24-year-old man after an argument between two men. The man suddenly lost consciousness – and died a little later. Now an autopsy has been ordered.
A 24-year-old lost consciousness on the way to police custody in Düsseldorf – he died a little later in the hospital.
The police and the public prosecutor announced on Tuesday. The police were called on Monday by uninvolved witnesses about a tangible argument between two men.
Because the 24-year-old had put up considerable resistance to the intended identification of the person and had behaved in a psychologically abnormal manner, the officers wanted to take him to the police custody of the presidium. He suddenly lost consciousness.
Man was possibly drugged
An ambulance took the 24-year-old to a hospital, where he died on Monday evening. Since there was evidence that the man might have been drugged, blood samples were taken from him. An autopsy was also ordered. For reasons of neutrality, the Duisburg police took over the investigation into the cause of death.
“So far there is no evidence of misconduct by the police officers involved,” said a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor. The man with whom the 24-year-old quarreled, meanwhile, was able to provide information about his identification. “The two must have known each other,” said the spokeswoman.
A 25-year-old died in police custody in Wuppertal last month. Before his death he had used amphetamines, cocaine and cannabis, a blood test showed. In addition, the man had suffered from a weak heart due to an abnormally enlarged heart. The man had also been very aggressive, according to authorities, before he collapsed.