Possible drunken and/or drugged driver dies in custody

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – A suspected drunken and/or drugged driver died in a hospital Sunday after being detained outside a gas station in the Bay Park neighborhood.

Officers found the man inside his running white Chevrolet sedan at the pumps at the USA Gasoline station at 2205 Morena Blvd. shortly before 10:30 a.m., San Diego police Lt. Paul Rorrison said.

Open containers were seen in the center console and officers smelled alcohol on his breath, Rorrison said. Other signs of drug or alcohol intoxication also were observed as officers detained him outside his car for questioning, he said.

Shortly after, the man began vomiting and had trouble breathing, Rorrison said. The officers provided first aid and summoned medics, who took the man to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla where he later died.

San Diego police homicide detectives launched an investigation into the man’s death. Rorrison said the county Medical Examiner’s Office would determine how he died.

The man’s name was withheld pending notification of kin.

Rorrison asked anyone with additional information to call police at (619) 531-2293, or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.