Man who died in custody was acting ‘out of control’

A man who died in custody three days after his arrest was acting like a “wild animal”, an eye-witness says.

The man attacked an elderly man in Freemans Bay on Sunday and was tasered multiple times by police.

He was taken into custody where his condition deteriorated and was transferred to hospital but he died yesterday.

“He was out of control,” the witness said.

“He was resisting arrest and he came at the cops as well, he was told to bloody get on the ground and he didn’t, so they tasered him.”

Roaming the street about 3pm on Sunday, the “big bugger” was yelling incoherently and slapping cars before he attacked the elderly man, the witness said.

“The bloke who was arrested [was] ... certainly behaving out of control.”

Auckland City District Commander Superintendent Karyn Malthus said the officers were forced to taser the man.

“Their repeated commands were ignored and the offender lunged towards them ... During the arrest process the offender violently struggled, which required two more back-up officers to assist to apply necessary restraints and a spit hood.”

Police staff attended to the elderly victim until paramedics arrived. He was last night in a serious condition.

The attacker was taken to the Auckland Police Custody Unit in an agitated state.

His condition began to deteriorate and police were required to perform CPR until an ambulance arrived.

He was taken to hospital and died yesterday morning.

The witness said he was adamant the police officers who arrested the man acted appropriately when handling the attacker.

The police do not believe the elderly victim and the offender were known to each other.