July 20--A man died in police custody in the Brighton Park neighborhood early Monday, police said.
About 1:25 a.m., police were responding to multiple calls of disturbances in the area when they found a man rummaging around in a garage in the 3000 block of West Pershing Road, authorities said.
Police contacted the owners of the property, who said they did not know the man, according to Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Suspecting that the man was mentally ill, police took him into custody and intended to take him in for a mental evaluation, Guglielmi said.
The man then began sweating heavily and his breathing became labored, so officers called paramedics.
By the time paramedics arrived, the man was unresponsive, Guglielmi said. He died on the scene in a police vehicle.
Police are conducting a custodial death investigation.
Police parked several vehicles in a tight cluster at the scene and blocked off a section of Pershing Road with crime scene tape.
A young woman rushed under the tape and into the scene, asking if her brother was there. An older woman she was with stayed behind, clutching at her chin with both hands.
