The Phoenix Police Department is investigating the death of a man while detained by officers in north Phoenix.
According to the Department, officers responded to a check welfare call at about 2:18 p.m. on July 20, 2023. When officers got to the shopping plaza located on the northeast corner of 19th Avenue and Union Hills Drive they saw a man matching the description from the call. Officers attempted to contact the man and check on his welfare, however the man continued to walk away.
Officers monitored the man’s actions while in the parking lot and saw he was in distress after falling into a landscaping wall. Officers then detained the man and requested Phoenix Fire assistance. Just before fire personnel got to the scene, the man became unresponsive. Fire began emergency lifesaving treatment and took the unidentified man to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
Details about what led to the man’s death will be investigated by the Office of the Medical Examiner.