Police are investigating an incident in which a Maryland man stopped breathing in a police car on the way to a hospital and died a few days later.
On Friday, April 13, a sergeant spotted a black Jeep Cherokee stopped on the side of Piney Orchard Parkway in Odenton, Md., with its hazard lights on.
The driver of the car was later identified as Patrick Raphael Toney, 41.
The officer stopped to see if the driver needed help, but according to authorities, Toney got out of the vehicle and started throwing things out of the car and onto the ground.
Toney then began making statements indicating that he wanted the sergeant to shoot him, authorities say. Toney was otherwise behaving erratically and walking around in circles in the roadway.
Believing he could be a danger to himself or others, the sergeant took Toney into custody for an emergency evaluation. Toney was handcuffed, placed into leg shackles and a spit hood.
Toney grew quiet during the drive to Baltimore Washington Medical Center. The officer asked if Toney was OK, but after he didn't get a response, he activated his emergency equipment and brought the nonresponsive man to a hospital.
Attending physicians revived him that night, but police were notified on April 18 that Toney had later died at the hospital.
Detectives in the Criminal Investigation Unit have launched an investigation into the incident.
