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Man Dies After Strange Bathroom Struggle With NYPD Officer
By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 29, 2011
Modified Nov 29, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Nov 29, 2011
Modified Nov 29, 2011
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A College of Staten Island Auxiliary Services man died today in a very strange episode at the school. Details of the incident, which involved a struggle between the man and a police officer outside a toilet by the school's athletic facility, are still very murky but—despite "a massive police response that rattled the college community"—the school remained open after the incident.
Sometime early this afternoon an NYPD officer on the Staten Island Task Force went to go use the bathroom by the school's athletic facility. According to the Advance:
The officer found a man doing something unspecified inside the restroom. The officer approached the man, possibly to investigate further or arrest him, and a wild struggle ensued. The man grabbed for the officer's gun, and the struggle spilled outside the restroom, where several passers by rushed in to assist the officer, sources said.
As they struggled, the man died, possibly of cardiac arrest or after falling to the ground, sources said. He was taken to Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton, where he was pronounced dead, sources say.
Police aren't currently elaborating on the incident—specifically what "unspecified" activity was going on in the john (the Post says the dead man was smoking pot) and the names of those involved—but the school did put out a statement assuring students and faculty that there had not been a shooting, that school was still going and that the college's North Loop Road would be closed until further notice while police investigate.
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