Handcuffed Florida Man Drowns After Jumping Into Boca Ciega Bay To Escape Police

A handcuffed Florida man who jumped into Boca Ciega Bay after breaking free from police custody has drowned and died, authorities said.

Donnie Brownlow Jr., 33, of St. Petersburg, was arrested by Treasure Island police Sunday at around 7.40 p.m. EDT over a domestic disturbance. He was detained on charges of domestic battery, obstruction, felony driving while license suspended and violation of probation, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Brownlow was being escorted by a cop to a van when he got away, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Paramedics from the Treasure Island Fire Department managed to pull him out of the water and performed CPR. He was then brought to the Palms of Pasadena Hospital, where he died at around 9.40 p.m. EDT.

Detectives with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s robbery and homicide unit were investigating the death because it occurred while he was in police custody, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The state medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death, according to WTSP-TV. Investigators didn’t deem his death suspicious.

In 2015, a man died while in the custody of Indianapolis police after complaining of breathing troubles. An internal investigation was launched after Terrell Day, 18, died in the back of an ambulance. He was confronted by an officer on suspicion of shoplifting and ran away from the spot while pointing a handgun at the cop. However, he later turned himself over to the cops.

Officers had called in an ambulance after he complained of breathing troubles and the responding Emergency Medical Service (EMS) crew deemed him fit to be transported to the processing center via a jail wagon. However, he again complained of having breathing troubles when the wagon arrived, prompting the officers to call a second ambulance. His condition worsened gradually and the EMS crew was unable to save him.