A 33-year-old man was arrested for public intoxication and died in a Houston police jail about eight hours after being arrested.
The man was arrested after he caused a disturbance on Houston’s west side around 1:30 a.m. He was charged also with resisting arrest.
After the man’s booking, police placed him in a jail cell by himself around 2:30 a.m. During checks every 15 minutes, the man was alert and fine. When the man was checked at 9:15 a.m. he was alert and fine, but he was unresponsive 15 minutes later.
An autopsy is pending to determine his cause of death. The in-custody death will be investigated by HPD’s homicide division in addition to the department’s internal affairs and the Harris County District Attorney’s office.