Whataburger attack

Officials say suspect stopped breathing, collapsed after arrest

A man dies in police custody after allegedly attacking a manager at a Houston Whataburger, trashing the restaurant and being chased out by employees.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the Thanksgiving night death of a man who stopped breathing while being arrested by Houston police after he was accused of attacking the manager of a Whataburger restaurant.

The man believed to be in his 40s was wearing just a shirt when he began throwing chairs, spilling canisters of tea and jumping on the counter around 7 p.m. at the fast-food eatery in the 9500 block of Bissonnet near Braeburn, Houston Police Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite said.

He allegedly threw a manager to the ground as he chased after her and other employees who tried to escape the restaurant. One worker manning the drivethru at the time of the attack said the man “trashed the whole place.”

The employees fended him off, prompting him to dart into a large parking lot across Bissonnet where two officers found and chased after him. A scuffle ensued as officers attempted to arrest the man, Satterwhite said.

“There was a struggle to get him handcuffed,” Satterwhite said. “Once they got him handcuffed, they started to move him. He started struggling again.”

While in custody, the unidentified man collapsed and stopped breathing, police said. He was rushed to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, where he died.

Satterwhite said the man appeared to be in crisis at the time of the Whataburger rampage. The employee knocked to the ground was not seriously hurt but suffered a scraped knee, police said.

While the officers were waiting for paramedics to treat the suspect, Satterwhite said, they noticed a puncture wound in his side. It was not immediately known what caused the injury or if that contributed to his death.

Both officers were wearing body cameras that were turned on during the arrest, Satterwhite said.

Before the alleged attack, the suspect stopped at the neighboring Shell station where a cashier said he banged on the window and knocked over a trash can.