A man died in San Francisco police custody Thursday after fighting with two cops who had apprehended him fleeing from a multi-car crash.
A fight broke out around 5:30 a.m. between motorists involved in a collision near the Presidio, a large park with views of the Golden Gate Bridge, according to a police statement. The man who died rear-ended a car, pushing it into parked vehicles across the street, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. He was "incoherent" and threatening, the driver of the rear-ended car told police.
The motorist who police said caused the wreck fled on foot. He began fighting with officers who caught him blocks away in the Marina neighborhood, police said.
"Officers took the suspect into custody; but before they did, the suspect fought our officers and injured two of them in the process," Officer Carlos Manfredi said in a statement. "While medics were en route, the suspect stopped breathing."
Officers performed CPR, "however the suspect subsequently died," Manfredi said.
One officer hurt her head when the suspect threw her to the ground. Another was punched several times in the face, according to the San Francisco Examiner. Backup police arrived and handcuffed the man. That's when cops realized he was struggling to breathe.
Witnesses tweeted photos apparently showing the man's body covered near a motel.
The two injured officers were treated at University of California-San Francisco's Parnassus campus.
Police Chief Greg Suhr was expected to discuss the man's death Thursday afternoon, following a funeral for a Bay Area officer killed during a traffic stop in Hayward last week.