Man Who Died After Scuffle With Antioch Police Had Medical Emergency Days Earlier
ANTIOCH (CBS SF) -- A man who died after clashing with Antioch police officers as they took him into custody on a parole warrant on Friday fled from police and experienced a medical emergency three days earlier, police said.
According to a police account in a weekly Antioch city manager's report, the man was "bleeding from his mouth and would not stop shaking" when officers found him hiding in a home on Tuesday.
The man, identified by police as 37-year-old Wendell Celestine Jr., had reportedly fled from police at 10:40 p.m. that day during a traffic stop on Gary Avenue and Biglow Drive in Antioch.
After being taken to a hospital and then leaving it, Celestine was involved in a scuffle with Antioch police officers on Friday in which he suffered injuries and eventually died.
He had been taken to the hospital on Tuesday after exhibiting signs of hypothermia, according to the earlier police report. He was apparently hiding in a creek bed with only his shorts on.
Celestine then gained entry into an occupied home, where police made contact with him and determined he had a no-bail parole warrant. Police said he was uncooperative with officers at that time.
Police had to search for the man again after he walked out of a hospital on Wednesday against doctor's orders after being admitted Tuesday.
He was not found, but an officer later located him sleeping in a vehicle at 3:12 a.m. Friday on East Sixth Street.
While officers attempted to take him into custody, he "fought violently with the officers," police said.
An ambulance had to be called to the scene for injuries he suffered in the scuffle. Police said Celestine then began experiencing "some sort of medical distress" as the ambulance arrived.
He was taken to a hospital and was later pronounced dead.
Given that the case is being considered an in-custody death, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, the county's crime lab and Antioch police are conducting an investigation into the incident.
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