Death of Pasco vandalism suspect who died in custody under investigation
Investigators are trying to determine what happened to a man who died while in Pasco police custody Monday morning.
The man, whose name has not been released, died at Lourdes Medical Center sometime after 5 a.m. during a routine medical exam before he was going to be taken to the Franklin County jail, Lt. Tom Groom told the Tri-City Herald.
Because of the circumstances before the man’s death, Pasco police asked for other Tri-City agencies to investigate what happened and that proper procedures were followed and didn’t contribute to his death.
The man’s identity has not been released because it’s unknown if his family had been notified yet.
On Monday, Pasco police were called about 5 a.m. about a man damaging property near Fourth Avenue and Sylvester Street, Groom said.
When officers arrived, they found the man and saw evidence of some vandalism.
The man didn’t cooperate with officers but he wasn’t shot or tased, said Groom.
Officers used some force taking him into custody but Groom wasn’t able to say what that involved. That will be investigated by the detectives from other police agencies.
He said the officers followed the normal procedures, taking him to the emergency room to be checked before taking him to jail.
While he was there, he had a medical emergency and died.
An autopsy was being conducted Friday morning.
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 12:27 PM.