Dallas police investigate in-custody death of 70-year-old man, officials say
A 70-year-old man taken into police custody early Wednesday on misdemeanor warrants became sick and died around an hour later, Dallas police said in a news release.
Roy Whittaker was taken into custody around 1:30 a.m. after a police officer saw the vehicle he was driving hit another vehicle and leave the scene, officials said. Police stopped Whittaker in the 9500 block of CF Hawn Freeway service road and took him into custody on misdemeanor warrants.
Whittaker became ill and asked for help when officers were searching him around 1:49 a.m., police said. An on-scene supervisor told the officers to remove the handcuffs, and police immediately requested assistance from Dallas Fire-Rescue.
Dallas Fire-Rescue arrived at 1:55 a.m., police said, and paramedics placed Whittaker on a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance at 1:59 a.m. Paramedics then started CPR on Whittaker.
Dallas Fire-Rescue left the scene with Whittaker at 2:17 a.m. and arrived at a local hospital at 2:27 a.m., police said. Whittaker died at the hospital at 2:42 a.m.
The driver of the vehicle Whittaker hit drove away from the scene and didn’t report the accident, officials said.
The Special Investigations Unit is investigating Whittaker’s in-custody death, officials said. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and Office of Community Police Oversight have been notified.
This is the second in-custody death in a week, according to Dallas police. A 39-year-old man arrested in connection with a Dallas murder case died in police custody June 21 after he told authorities he was feeling sick and was transported to a hospital.
