A man accused of fleeing from police and swallowing drugs in an attempt to get rid of the evidence has died, according to the Indianapolis Metro Police Department.
Around 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7, an undercover IMPD officer with the FBI Safe Streets Taskforce saw a drug transaction involving a man who had a gun.
The undercover officer called for assistance from the IMPD Criminal Interdiction Section and fellow IMPD officers to conduct a narcotic investigation on the suspect.Detectives tracked the vehicle to an area on the east side of Indianapolis. According to IMPD, the suspect did not stop while detectives were trying to pull the car over and a chase ensued.
During the chase, IMPD said officers saw the suspect hit a mailbox and an IMPD car, damaging the front bumper. Police confirmed the officer was not injured. The chase ended after approximately six minutes when the suspect crashed into an uninvolved car.
Police confirmed the driver and child passenger in the uninvolved car were checked out and released by medics at the scene.
After the crash, police said the suspect ran from the car, and officers chased after him and took him to the ground. Police said the suspect struggled and resisted officers’ attempts to place him in handcuffs, while putting his hands in his mouth and allegedly swallowing suspected drugs.
Officers then handcuffed the suspect and took him into custody. According to IMPD, officers asked the suspect multiple times to spit out the suspected drugs, but he did not comply.
Police said the suspect was awake and breathing at the scene. While medics were taking the suspect to Eskenazi Hospital, the suspect allegedly threw up the suspected drugs. Police said the suspect’s condition got worse when he got to the hospital and was later pronounced dead.
The Marion County Coroner’s Office will identify the deceased once family is notified, as well as determine his manner and cause of death. IMPD said officers found a gun in the suspect’s car, which was collected and will be submitted as evidence, along with the suspect drugs the suspect threw up.
The IMPD Critical Incident Response Team responded to the scene to conduct a death investigation. IMPD Internal Affairs is conducting a separate administrative investigation into the incident.
