Crime & Safety

Berkeley Man Dies After Struggle with Police

The 41-year-old man died Tuesday night after police went to his residence to question him about a disturbance.

A 41-year-old Berkeley man died Tuesday night after struggling with Berkeley Police Department officers who had responded to a call about a disturbance, a BPD spokesperson said.

Officer Stephanie Polizziani said officers were dispatched to the 2000 block of Allston Way at 11:49 p.m. Feb. 12 after a caller reported a disturbance.

The reporting party directed the officers to a man's home nearby, Polizziani said in a press release. The man became agitated, wouldn't obey the officers' commands and began to scream and resist the officers violently, she said.

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Polizziani said officers put the man in restraints after a physical struggle.

Because of the man's size, the officers had called the Berkeley Fire Department to help transport the man on a gurney for evaluation, Polizziani said.

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While waiting for fire department personnel to arrive, the man was kept under restraint, she said. Police officers saw that he was not breathing and began CPR immediately, she said.

Whe fire department personnel arrived, they transported the man to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Polizziani said.

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office has been notify of the incident, and the case is being investigated by the BPD's detective division, she said.

Police have not yet released the dead man's name.

The Oakland Tribune reported that the man lived in the same apartment building as the person who notified police of a disturbance and that the man was being taken in for an involuntary psychiatric hold. The Tribune article also listed the location of the incident as the 2100 block of Allston Way rather than the 2000 block.

Patch will update this article when more information is available.


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