The Associated Press
O’FALLON, Mo. — Police in the St. Louis suburb of O’Fallon said Monday they are investigating the death of a 38-year-old man they say jumped from the back of an ambulance and died a short time later when officers tried to take him into custody.
Police said the man died late Sunday at a hospital not long after police say he kicked at officers and lost consciousness.
His name was not immediately released.
Authorities said officers responding to a report that a man was standing in a street, yelling for police to be called, were told at the scene by the man’s mother that her son was acting paranoid, and that she feared for her safety and that of her son.
Police said the man was hallucinating, acting manic and at times speaking incoherently. But the man agreed to go to a hospital for an evaluation and voluntarily got into the ambulance, only to jump out of it a short time later, police said. Officers found him in a back yard, and he initially complied with orders that he get on the ground.
But officers said he began thrashing at them when they tried to handcuff him.
An autopsy was planned.