A man died Thursday after he ate a “white substance” while fleeing officers on foot in north suburban Waukegan, police said.
Detectives confronted the man about 3 p.m. in the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and attempted to serve an arrest warrant, Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles said in a statement. Detectives were initially in the block serving a search warrant for drugs on a home when they saw the man drive up, exit his vehicle and approach the targeted home, Walles said.
As detectives approached him, he fled on foot and began “to eat an unknown white substance,” Walles said. He fell and was apprehended, but continued to chew the substance and refused commands to spit it out, Walles said.
The man became “physically distressed” and detectives called for an ambulance, Wallace said. Paramedics took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Walles said.
Police did not confirm if the man had ingested drugs. A spokesman for the department did not answer a call Thursday evening.
Police only identified the man as a Waukegan resident in his 30s. His name will be released once the family is notified, Walles said. The Lake County coroner’s office scheduled an autopsy for Friday.
The death is being classified as an “in-custody death,” Walles said. Illinois State Police are conducting their own investigation of the incident.
“The Waukegan Police Department has requested the ISP to conduct an independent investigation reference the in-custody death,” a state police spokesperson said in a statement. “ISP investigators have responded. The investigation is in its preliminary stages and no information is being released at this time.”
