KIN MOURN DAD WHO DIED IN COP CUSTODY

The relatives of a 45-year-old Worcester man who died in police
custody after allegedly assaulting an officer last week are reeling
with sorrow as they await answers from a probe into the incident.

Kenneth Howe, a carpenter and barber, "was the father of three
children, a 1-year-old, a 10-year-old and a 15-year-old, and had a
lovely wife. They are in incredible grief," family attorney Frances
A. King, a Boston-based lawyer, said last night.

Howe was the front-seat passenger in a car that was stopped just
before midnight Wednesday at a North Andover checkpoint manned by
state and town police and the Essex County Sheriff's Department, said
Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett.

A state police trooper "saw him making furtive movements," O'Connell
said in a statement. Another passenger later told police Howe had lit
a marijuana cigarette and was trying to extinguish it, O'Connell
said.

When asked to exit the car, Howe "jumped out the window, struck the
trooper and fled," O'Connell said.

After a brief foot chase and an "ensuing struggle," he was handcuffed
and charged with assault and battery on a police officer, O'Connell
said.

Howe was taken to the Andover state police barracks. While he was in
the booking room, he "slumped over and was unresponsive," O'Connell
said.

He was taken to Lawrence General Hospital, where he was pronounced
dead at 12:45 a.m. Thursday.

Police found 15 mg of Oxycodone, for which Howe had a prescription,
in his pocket, O'Connell said. It was unknown whether that factored
into his death.

"The family is obviously in extreme distress and grief," King said.
Howe, who co-owned a Clinton barbershop, "was always helping people."

King declined to comment on any aspects of the incident.

"At this point, we're confident the Essex County DA's office is
conducting a thorough investigation and that they are taking the case
very seriously," she said. "I think it's only fair to allow the DA to
conduct an investigation."

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy, but a
cause of death was not determined yesterday. The medical examiner's
office said it plans to conduct further tests while it awaits
toxicology results.