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Cause of death identified for man who died after September fight with Salem police

By Jayati Ramakrishnan, oregonlive.com
Published: November 28, 2019, 9:11am

PORTLAND — Police have identified the cause of death for a Salem man, who died in police custody after being arrested in September.

Allen James Pitts, 49, died Sept. 28 following a struggle with police after they arrested him in a Salem restaurant. Oregon State Medical Examiner Sean Hurst ruled that Pitts died from cardiac dysrhythmia due to hypertensive heart disease, and his condition was made worse by the physical exertion from the fight with police. Hurst ruled that Pitts’ death was accidental.

According to a news release from the Marion County district attorney’s office, police responded around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 28 to the Best Little Roadhouse restaurant in Salem, for a report of a man who was refusing to leave the property and had threatened to kill the restaurant manager. Police arrived and told Pitts, who was sitting in a booth in the restaurant, that he needed to leave. But Pitts didn’t comply, and began to struggle with police when they tried to remove him from the booth.

The district attorney’s office said Pitts and two police officers struggled for about seven minutes and one officer used a taser on Pitts “with little effect.” Other police and medics arrived and were finally able to handcuff Pitts. Shortly after he was arrested, and while he was still in the restaurant, police noticed that Pitts was not breathing. Medics began treating him in the restaurant and then rushed him to Salem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Oregon State Police investigated Pitts’ death, interviewing members of Pitts’ family, people who spent time with him in the days before his death and witnesses from the restaurant. They also reviewed police reports, medical and mental health records and video evidence that documented Pitts’ activities earlier in the evening.

According to the district attorney’s office, Pitts had a history of mental illness and a criminal history, including being charged with assaulting a police officer and harassment in 2016.

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