Former El Dorado resident dies in police custody

FAYETTEVILLE — A man arrested after a foot chase Monday night died Tuesday morning, Fayetteville Police Department spokesman Sgt. Craig Stout said Wednesday.

Phillip Jerriel Moore, 23, of Fayetteville and a former resident of El Dorado, died at Washington Regional Medical Center, according to a news release.

Police delayed releasing information on Moore’s death “out of consideration of the family, who has members in several states,” Stout said in a statement.

According to the news release, an officer stopped Moore for a traffic violation about 9:48 p.m. Monday at South West Avenue and West Prairie Street and searched the vehicle after smelling marijuana, at which point Moore fled.

The officer called for backup, Stout said. Officers chased Moore north along the railroad tracks at South University Avenue, found him hiding in brushes and arrested him, according to the news release.

Seven officers and a police department supervisor were at the scene when Moore was arrested, Stout said.

Moore told an officer that “his legs weren’t working,” and that he was having trouble breathing, according to the news release. Police called an ambulance.

Central EMS employees said Moore was OK to be taken to the Washington County jail, but Moore stopped talking to police on the way to the jail, according to the news release. Police stopped and called Central EMS again, which took him to the hospital, according to the news release.

Central EMS Chief Becky Stewart confirmed Wednesday that police called the ambulance service twice

in a span of a few minutes.

Stout said police and Moore did not scuffle and police did not use a stun gun on Moore during the arrest. Moore followed directions, was arrested and put into the back of a patrol vehicle, according to the news release.

“We never really put hands on him,” Stout said.

Police said in the news release that the cause of Moore’s death is “not believed to be related to use of force by police.”

Moore’s body will be sent to the state Crime Laboratory to determine the cause of death, Stout said.

Fayetteville police are conducting an internal investigation into Moore’s death, according to the news release.

Central EMS reviewed how the ambulance service treated Moore and found his treatment “was in compliance with protocols,” Stewart said.