The death of a 45-year-old man who struggled with police while being taken into custody in July in New York City has been ruled a homicide by the medical examiner’s office, according to CNN.
The man, Ronald Singleton, died in police custody on July 13, just four days before Eric Garner died after an officer put him in a choke hold, the report says. Garner’s death, also ruled a homicide by the New York City Medical Examiner, ignited protests across the nation about the use of excessive force by police in the black community.
In Singleton’s case, the medical examiner released a statement Friday ruling his death a homicide, saying it was caused by the “physical restraint by police during excited delirium due to acute phencyclidine (PCP) intoxication,” according to CNN.
Singleton was taken into police custody after a yellow cab driver waved down a police officer near St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan, police said in a statement. The cab driver claimed the passenger was “acting overly irate and irrational, cursing and screaming and causing alarm,” according to the statement, the report says.
Singleton then exited the taxi and “became combative with the officer, trying to fight with him,” the report says. The officer radioed for assistance and other officers responded along with members of the NYPD Emergency Service Unit. He was placed in a “protective body wrap by the ESU officers,” the police statement said.
An ambulance was taking Singleton to a hospital when he went into cardiac arrest, the statement said. Singleton was dead on arrival at Roosevelt Hospital, the report says.
The NYPD said it was cooperating with the Manhattan district attorney's office investigation of the death.
Read more at CNN.