Autopsy Scheduled on Man Who Died in Van Nuys Jail

VAN NUYS —  A man arrested by police on suspicion of being drunk in public died in a jail cell, authorities said Friday.

An autopsy to determine why the 37-year-old man died is scheduled to be performed next week, and investigators from the Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide division are investigating the death, authorities said.

The identity of the victim, believed to be a transient, has not been released pending notification of his family, authorities said.

The man was arrested Thursday about 1:05 p.m. when officers searching for a burglar found him lying in an alley near the 11900 block of Addison Street in North Hollywood, said police spokeswoman Sandra Castello.

The officers believed the man fit the description of the burglar, she said.

The police called an ambulance, and paramedics told officers that the man was well enough to be arrested and taken to jail, Castello said.

Instead of going to the North Hollywood facility, which was closer, the officers took him to the Van Nuys Jail, which has a doctor and dispensary, said police spokesman Rigo Romero.

The man was booked on suspicion of public drunkenness because there was not enough evidence to arrest him for burglary, police said.

Sgt. Chuck Peterson, the jailer who was on duty when the man was brought in, said the man was examined by a doctor before he was placed in a cell, and “was constantly under observation.”

But about four hours later at 4:55 p.m., the man--who was lying on his bunk--did not respond during a routine check by the jail’s nurse and a jail physician was unable to revive him, police said.

He was pronounced dead at Valley Hospital Medical Center at 5:31 p.m., authorities said.