A man who collapsed and stopped breathing as he was being booked into jail Thursday remained hospitalized Friday night in critical condition.
Salt Lake County sheriff's homicide detectives said the unidentified man apparently overdosed on cocaine and is not expected to survive.Salt Lake police arrested the man, a transient in his 30s, Thursday evening near Pioneer Park after receiving reports that he was "running around going crazy," said sheriff's Sgt. Jerry Townsend. While at the jail, the man blacked out and was taken to LDS Hospital, where doctors worked to keep him alive throughout the night.
Townsend said it isn't uncommon for people to die from cocaine overdoses. He said he alone has investigated four or five such incidents in the past five years.