BALTIMORE — The Attorney General's Office is opening an independent investigation surrounding the death of a Baltimore man while in police custody.
According to investigators, the incident happened on Tuesday around 4:20 p.m. when Baltimore City Fire emergency personnel, BPD, and MTA Police responded to the 200 block of South Howard Street following reports of a man lying in the middle of the street trying to kill himself and "fighting people."
According to the Attorney General's report, body cam footage details MTA officers and EMS on the scene before Baltimore police's arrival. During that time, MTA officers were seen in the video trying to speak to the man, later identified as 29-year-old Trea Ellinger, of Glen Burnie.
The report says Ellinger was then restrained in handcuffs and placed on his side on an ambulance stretcher, secured with restraint straps, and once he was placed inside the ambulance, medical staff began rendering aid.
The report later detailed that several minutes after being placed in the ambulance, Ellinger became unresponsive. The report also states that the officers inside the ambulance then removed the cuffs while medical staff attempted to revive him. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died a few hours later, says the report.
The cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
According to the report, the body-worn cameras of the BPD officers were active during the incident. Maryland Transit Administration Police officers are not equipped with body-worn cameras. The video may be released in accordance with Baltimore Police Department and Independent Investigations Division policies.
