AUTOPSY FINDS SUSPECT MAY HAVE ASPHYXIATED

A drug suspect who died in Oakland police custody was not fatally
beaten or choked by the officers who arrested him, according to a
preliminary autopsy report.

The report found that Patrick Gaston, 34, may have died of
asphyxiation after swallowing a plastic bag of drugs, police said. The
cause of death has not been determined pending toxicology results, but
physical trauma and heart attack were ruled out.

"We know that Mr. Gaston was not beaten, was not traumatized by our
staff," Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker said Saturday.

Tucker said there was a "short struggle" with Gaston as four
officers tried to arrest him for allegedly selling drugs to an
undercover officer Thursday. Gaston allegedly resisted officers who
were putting his hands behind his back, so they punched him in the
stomach three times to put the handcuffs on, the chief said.

When the officers saw that Gaston was having trouble breathing, they
removed the handcuffs and performed CPR, Tucker said. Medical
personnel then arrived, and removed from his throat a sandwich-size
plastic bag containing 18 small balloons filled with either heroin or
cocaine.

Gaston was taken to Highland Hospital, where he died.

Neighbors and witnesses, including Gaston's mother, said they believe
Gaston was beaten or choked, and said police did not help him when he
stopped breathing.

Gwendolyn Gaston said her son never resisted arrest.

"He was handcuffed," she said. "He was slammed to the ground, and
they kept beating him. . . . They didn't stop beating him until I said
they were killing him."

The autopsy report showed a small abrasion on his head and a bruise on
his shoulder, but no evidence that he was choked, police said. The
officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.