Authorities are investigating the in-custody death of an Atlanta man who was arrested Friday afternoon after damaging a police car in the parking lot of a DeKalb County Burger King, police said.
According to police, the man exhibited “erratic behavior” outside the fast food restaurant on Evans Mill Road, repeatedly striking an off-duty officer’s patrol car and then trying to enter another vehicle shortly after 3 p.m.
“When the officer exited the drive-thru, an individual alerted the officer that the suspect had tried to enter his vehicle before going into a nearby lot,” DeKalb police spokeswoman Michaela Vincent said in a statement.
The DeKalb officer requested backup, located the suspect and called for an ambulance when the man displayed erratic behavior, she said. Several more officers responded to the restaurant and helped detain the man.
The suspect, identified Tuesday as 27-year-old Quincy Patterson, died after he was admitted to Emory Hillandale Hospital in Lithonia, police said.
“A preliminary review has concluded that the DeKalb officers used minimum restraints to prevent the subject from harming himself,” Vincent said. “Officers on the scene did not observe any physical injuries to the individual prior to placing him in the ambulance for transport to (the hospital).”
The GBI is investigating the incident, but Patterson’s cause of death won’t be known until his autopsy results are returned, officials said Tuesday.
No additional details were released.
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