A man died in police custody Wednesday after apparently swallowing bags of drugs during an earlier police raid.
According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, members of the Firearms Enforcement Unit served a search warrant at the AARCS Residence Suites on south Tryon Street around 2:30 p.m. After officers entered a room, a man inside told police he had swallowed drugs.
According to the police report, officers called paramedics and the man was taken to Carolinas Medical Center. He was not arrested and apparently left the hospital without treatment. A female in the room, however, was arrested on obstruction charges.
Roughly two and a half hours later, the man stopped an officer patrolling along Clanton Road. The man asked to be taken to a hospital and police again called Medic. Before paramedics arrived, the report alleges, the man tried to force his way into the officer’s car as well as into a nearby home.
During the encounter, the man vomited several small baggies, police say. He was treated at the scene and taken again to Carolinas Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Police say they could not immediately identify the man.
Homicide detectives are investigating, as well as CMPD’s internal affairs unit, which is customary in such incidents.
