SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – A man in police custody died Thursday in Northern California after smashing a hospital window with a metal oxygen tank and falling from a ledge following an altercation with an officer and a nurse, authorities said.
The man was being held for allegedly violating a court order, according to San Jose police. Officers took him to the hospital for an unspecified pre-existing condition.
The man is accused of assaulting an officer and threatening to hit the officer and a nurse with the oxygen tank, police said. They left the room and called for more help.
The man broke the window with the oxygen tank while alone in the hospital room and jumped onto a ledge, the police department said. The officer and two hospital security guards re-entered the room to stop the man’s escape attempt, but he fell 20 feet (6.10 meters) from the ledge.
The man suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at another hospital. His death in police custody is under investigation.
San Jose is about 20 miles (32.19 kilometers) southeast of downtown San Francisco.
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