Man Dies in Paris Police Station as Cause-of-Death Inquiry Begins

Overview

• The adult detainee was stopped in the 20th arrondissement after officers saw him rolling a joint and found cannabis resin and suspected forged documents.
• Police report that he resisted, fell twice bringing two officers down, and was subjected to an electroshock device applied in contact mode to his lower leg.
• At the station his alcohol test was negative, he awaited hospital transfer for an eyebrow wound, then suffered a collapse with cardiac arrest.
• Officers began CPR and firefighters continued resuscitation, but he was declared dead at about 12:20 a.m. inside the commissariat.
• The Paris prosecutor opened a judicial inquiry into the cause of death with IGPN involvement, the body was sent for autopsy, and the arresting officers were interviewed as the scene was examined.