LOCAL : Man Dies After Fight With Officers

A young man who “quit breathing” after a struggle with Santa Ana police officers who were trying to detain him following an apparently drug-induced rampage died today at a Fountain Valley hospital, police said.

The man, whose identity was not immediately known, was pronounced dead at 4:47 a.m. at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center where he was taken after struggling with several Santa Ana officers shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday, said Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas.

Police had responded to complaints from several residents in the 1600 block of West Brook Street that a man was running across their rooftops, tearing down television antennas and “behaving in a wild and bizarre manner,” Thomas said. The man was detained at gunpoint by one of the residents whose home the man had entered, brandishing a butcher knife. When police arrived a few minutes later, they attempted to subdue the man without using their weapons, Thomas said. A fierce struggle ensued, after which the man stopped breathing and Santa Ana fire paramedics were called. An autopsy is to be performed later today.