MAN'S DEATH IN POLICE CUSTODY WAS COCAINE ACCIDENT, DA SAYS

The 25-year-old Milwaukee man who died in police custody last week
apparently swallowed an "eight ball" of cocaine in a last-ditch effort
to hide the drug from police, District Attorney E. Michael McCann and
police said Friday.

"My suspicion is he took and ingested it right into his stomach,"
McCann said Friday, adding that the practice of swallowing drugs to
hide them from police is becoming increasingly common.
"It's a fiercely dangerous thing to do," McCann said.

For Edward Sims Jr., 25, the strategy failed after he apparently
swallowed an "eight ball" -- or an eighth of an ounce -- of cocaine
after being pulled over by police May 6 at N. 13th and W. Chambers
streets for driving without license plates.

It is unclear whether the cocaine he swallowed was wrapped in plastic
or loose, McCann said.

"Nobody saw him do it," McCann said.

After his arrest, Sims was taken to the 5th District police station
near N. 5th and W. Locust streets. He died a short time later in an
ambulance after complaining that he had trouble breathing, McCann said.
Sims' mother, Brenda Sims, said her son planned to get his driver's
license straight and eventually find steady work.

"He was excited about finding a good job," Brenda Sims said of her
son. "He knew he had these traffic tickets on him. He knew in order to
get a good job he needed to drive."

Brenda Sims said her son had previously worked as a gas station clerk.
She also said he worked as an alley mechanic and had been
reconstructing cars as a hobby since he was 17 years old.

Brenda Sims said her son kept any illegal business in which he might
have been involved away from the home she shares with her husband,
Edward Sr.

McCann said Sims died from "acute cocaine intoxication." His death is
considered accidental, McCann said.

Last year, there were 34 accidental drug deaths in Milwaukee County
that involved cocaine, which is the "primary drug detected in drug
deaths certified as accidental," according to the county medical
examiner's 1997 Activity and Statistical Report.

Checked-by: trikydik@inil.com (trikydik)