State police are investigating after a man died at a local hospital following an altercation with Meriden police.
Meriden police said a man who drove into the gated back lot of the police department on Sunday night was acting erratically and irrationally, exhibited paranoiac symptoms and characteristics consistent with drug use and admitted to having smoked crack and swallowed cocaine earlier in the evening.
State police said the man was bleeding from his hands.
Police called for an ambulance. As officers helped EMTs get the man into the ambulance, he flailed, screamed and yelled about forgiveness and how people were watching him, according to police.
Police handcuffed the man, who spit saliva and blood at officers and EMTs and tried to bite them, police said.
Police said an officer used a Taser on the man to get him to stop fighting and the man grabbed the Taser and would not let go.
The man fought emergency workers in the ambulance and continued fighting while being placed into a hospital room, police said.
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Some time after the man arrived at the hospital, medical staff indicated that the he had died, according to police.
The State Police Central District Major Crime Squad has been called in to investigate the incident.
State police originally called this a “use of force death” and said a local police officer killed someone outside the station.
