Police pursuit ends in tragedy: Man dies after swallowing drugs during chase
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man died in the hospital after swallowing drugs following a chase with IMPD.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department have not released the identity of the man or given a cause of death. The Marion County Coroner’s Office is expected to provide that information later.
An undercover officer saw a man armed with a gun involved in a drug deal around 4:40 p.m. on Thursday. That officer called for help and uniformed IMPD officers tracked the suspect to 30th Street and Post Road.
IMPD says that the man then drove away from police, hitting a mailbox, an IMPD vehicle, and a bystander’s vehicle. The driver and child in the bystander’s vehicle were checked out and released by medics at the scene, and the IMPD officer was not hurt.
After the crash, IMPD says the man ran on foot from officers who then brought him to the ground. Police tried to put him in handcuffs, but they say that the suspect managed to swallow the narcotics before he was arrested. Once the man was in custody, medics were called to help.
While the man was awake and breathing at the scene, and regurgitated the drugs in the ambulance, his condition deteriorated in the hospital. He died at the hospital.
IMPD internal affairs unit is investigating the incident. Multiple officers were wearing bodycams and two of the police vehicles had cameras that caught the crash.
