Naked Man, Possibly Under The Influence Of Drugs, Dies

"Naked Man, Possibly Under the Influence of Drugs, Dies"
 
Los Angeles: On December 7, 2003, at about 10:30 p.m., Central Area patrol officers Michael Hill, David Cho, Cesar Orozco, Eddy Zelaya, Darrion Carlyle, Donald Casper and Sergeant Leonard Perez, responded to a radio call of a battery suspect at the Cecil Hotel, 640 South Main Street.
Upon arrival the officers discovered the suspect, who had been acting bizarre and vandalizing his hotel room, naked and suspected of being under the influence of an unknown drug(s). He was lying on the floor and hitting his head with a broken ceramic lamp, which caused him to bleed. To prevent the suspect from injuring himself further, the officers entered the room and used bodily weight to overcome resistance, while placing handcuffs and a hobble on the suspect. The suspect received immediate medical attention by awaiting Los Angeles Fire Department personnel. Because of suspect’s impaired vital signs, a LAFD’s rescue ambulance transported him to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center. Despite the emergency treatment, the suspect was pronounced dead at 11:00 p.m.
Officer Orozco received a puncture wound to his left thumb and was treated and released from a local hospital.
The suspect’s identity is not available pending the notification to his family.
The cause of death is not known at this time, pending the findings by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office. The investigation into the death of the suspect is on going and being conducted by Critical Incident Investigation Division.
This news release was prepared by Public Information Officer Jason Lee, Media Relations Section, at 213-485-3586.