GARLAND COUNTY, Ark. — Arkansas State Police are investigating after a man was found acting "strange" and later lost consciousness at a detention center in Garland County.
Shortly after 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the Garland County Sheriff's Department received a call that said a man was acting "in a strange manner" and punching the concrete with his hands.
When deputies arrived to check on the man, they first found an unoccupied vehicle and then saw a man running across East Grand Avenue.
The man reportedly told them he got out of the car because there were "snakes inside the vehicle." Deputies found no snakes or "anything out of the ordinary."
Deputies noticed the man sweating profusely, having strange mannerisms, and acting seemingly paranoid and delusional.
During the conversation, the man told deputies, “Someone may have slipped something in my drink at my friend’s house.”
Once first responders were on the scene, the man said he took "numerous" drugs, including meth. He allegedly refused to get in an ambulance and ran away once deputies tried to arrest him for DWI and public intoxication.
A deputy then tased the man and after a small struggle, they were able to take the man into custody.
Once he was in custody, EMTs on scene medically cleared him and he was taken to the Garland County Detention Center.
The sheriff's office claimed that the man then "lost consciousness" shortly after arriving.
Staff at the detention center performed "life-saving measures" before he was transported to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The body has been taken to the Arkansas State Crime Lab to determine the cause of death, and Arkansas State Police have been requested to handle the investigation.
The identity of the man has not yet been released.
The investigation into this incident remains ongoing and we will update with more information as soon as it becomes available.