Man dies after being arrested following routine traffic stop

Thursday, Sept. 2, 1999 | 11:16 a.m.

A man who recently moved from Mississippi to Las Vegas died shortly after being arrested for fleeing police following a routine traffic stop Wednesday night.

Metro Police homicide Sgt. Rocky Alby was mystified by the incident.

"There was never any confrontation between the subject and police," Alby said this morning.

The cause of death is unknown. An autopsy was to be performed later today.

The man, believed to be between 36 and 39 years old, passed out while being taken to the Clark County Detention Center and was unresponsive when they arrived at the jail.

Alby said the man then was taken to University Medical Center, where he was dead on arrival.

The identity of the man is being withheld until his family can be notified.

Alby said patrol officers stopped the man and a woman companion near Lake Mead and Nellis boulevards about 5 p.m.

He said the driver began acting suspiciously when asked about his identity and his vehicle.

Officers told the man to step out of the car and the man ran into the desert, Alby said.

He alluded officers for about 20 minutes before he was found kneeling behind a car in an auto repair yard about one-quarter mile from where he was initially stopped.

"The car wasn't stolen. It was out of Mississippi. We are led to believe he just moved from there," Alby said.

Alby said the unidentified woman appeared surprised when the man ran after the traffic stop.