Man Dies While Being Transported for Emergency Evaluation

Family to 911 Call Taker:  Obese Man Likely on PCP



At 10:25 pm on November 18, 2015, Prince George's County Police officers were called to a home in the 10000 block of Westwood Drive in Cheltenham for the report of a person possibly suffering from a PCP overdose.  The man's mother and uncle separately called 911 asking for help. The man could be heard on the mother's 911 call screaming and pounding on walls in another room.  As officers headed to the home, the 911 call taker advised the mother to stay away from her son for her own safety. The man's uncle called 911 from outside the home.

When officers arrived, they found the man upstairs, naked and incoherent. Officers needed two sets of handcuffs for the nearly 500-pound man.  Six patrol officers then placed the man on a comforter and carried him downstairs. He was then placed on a stretcher waiting outside of the home. At the request of emergency medical personnel on scene, the handcuffs were removed in order for the paramedics to attend to the man. Several minutes after getting into the ambulance, paramedics could not find a pulse and efforts were made to revive the man. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

An autopsy revealed no signs of any injuries to the man's body and the family told investigators they saw no use of force by the officers. The toxicology test results could take several weeks.