64-year-old man dies after medical episode in NYPD custody: police sources

A man died after suffering a medical episode while in custody at an NYPD station house Friday, police sources said.

Police officers responded to a call about a “violent male” with a weapon at a home on East 119th Street between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue in Harlem around 11:30 a.m. and took the 64-year-old into custody, the sources said.

“We arrive, investigate and arrest for criminal mischief and menacing,” a police source said.

The officers then took the man to the 25th Precinct station at 120 East 119th St., the sources said.

Cops asked him if he needed medical attention when he arrived at the precinct at 12:15 p.m., which is standard procedure, but he said no, according to the source. He began suffering a medical episode about five minutes later, the source said.

Police officers performed life saving measures on the man and an ambulance rushed him to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, according to police.

He was declared dead at the hospital just before 1:30 p.m., police said. 

The man’s identity was pending family notification, cops said.

Detectives from the NYPD’s Force Investigation Division were reviewing body worn camera footage of the incident to determine what happened, the sources said.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death, cops said.

In April, there were two deaths in NYPD custody.

A 51-year-old man arrested for fare evasion and a 33-year-old woman arrested for drug possession both died after suffering withdrawal symptoms, cops said.