Police: Man dies after being pepper-sprayed, restrained by security at suburban Detroit mall
1/30/2014SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Police say a man has died following a confrontation at a suburban Detroit shopping mall during which he was pepper-sprayed and restrained by security guards.
Southfield police say they responded Tuesday evening to Northland Center and found that the man had a pulse but wasn’t breathing. Lt. Nick Loussia says he was pronounced dead Tuesday night at a hospital, about an hour after the confrontation began.
An autopsy is to determine cause of death. No charges have been filed.
Attorney Gerald Thurswell, who is representing the man’s family, identified him as 24-year-old McKenzie Cochran of Ferndale.
Thurswell tells The Detroit News that cellphone video shows Cochran being restrained.
Brent Reetz, general manager of Northland Center, tells the Detroit Free Press that guards weren’t aware that the man had stopped breathing.