LAPD Investigate In-Custody Death; Say Force Not Used During Standoff

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating an in-custody death, but details about how the 29-year-old man died were not immediately known, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said today.

Officers responded Saturday to an apartment in the 200 block of West Sixth Street on a call about a ``violent person with mental illness who was reportedly armed with a knife and a wrench,'' Moore told the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday.

Officers found Nicholas Woodson, 29, barricaded in his apartment's bathroom with ``several knives'' and what turned out to be a hammer, Moore said. Officers attempted to speak with Woodson during a standoff that lasted more than an hour, Moore said.

 ``At some point, Mr. Woodson stopped responding to the officers' commands and officers made entry into the bathroom,'' Moore said. ``They observed Mr. Woodson, who was conscious and breathing but was in the state of a medical emergency.''

Los Angeles Fire Department personnel were already at the scene and provided medical assistance, Moore said. Woodson was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:05 a.m. on Sunday, according to Moore.

The chief added that there was no ``reported use of force during the engagement,'' but the in-custody death has launched an investigation by the Force Investigation Division. Body-worn video will be released in the coming weeks, along with other evidence gathered during the investigation.