OCEAN CITY — The Delaware man who died while in police custody early Sunday morning reportedly told those treating him just before he passed that he had ingested cocaine. A preliminary pathology report, released days later, confirms that was likely the case.
Around 12:24 a.m. on Sunday, Ocean City Police conducted a traffic stop in the area of 8th Street. According to police reports, officers detected the smell of marijuana while approaching the vehicle and requested a scan by the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit. The K-9 detected the presence of controlled dangerous substances and during a subsequent search, OCPD officers located over 1,500 small bags of heroin and additional narcotics. OCPD officers then arrested three individuals in the vehicle without incident.
Around 2:20 a.m., one of the suspects, later identified as Jerry L. Weston, 37, of Greenwood, Del., began to complain of trouble breathing while in custody at the Public Safety Building booking facility. At that time, OCPD booking personnel contacted Ocean City Emergency Medical Services, who responded shortly thereafter.
Upon the arrival of Ocean City EMS, Weston began to seize and went into cardiac arrest. Ocean City EMS began conducting lifesaving measures and transported the victim to Atlantic General Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased around 3:30 a.m. At the request of the OCPD, the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit is conducting an investigation into Weston’s death.
The preliminary investigation indicates emergency care was provided and emergency medical personnel were summoned to the Public Safety Building after Weston complained of symptoms including trouble breathing. Maryland State Police Homicide Unit investigators learned Weston told those treating him he had ingested cocaine.
Weston’s body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore for an autopsy on Monday to determine the cause and manner of death. The complete results of the autopsy conducted on Weston are still pending, but the preliminary post-mortem found no signs of external injuries that would have caused his death, but did find signs that he may have ingested drugs.
Pathologists did find pieces of latex and a substance believed to be cocaine in Weston’s digestive tract, which is consistent with his statement to police and medical personnel while he was in distress that he had ingested cocaine. Doctors at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner have ordered additional toxicology screenings as part of the autopsy. Those results are still pending and could take up to a month or more to obtain. Therefore, a ruling has not been made on Weston’s cause and manner of death and the autopsy remains open pending the results of ongoing tests.
Meanwhile, the police reports for two others arrested along with Weston shed some light on the events leading up to his death. Around 12:25 a.m. on Saturday, an OCPD bicycle officer on patrol in the area of 1st Street and St. Louis Avenue observed a vehicle pull out on a taxi, causing the cab to break to avoid a collision. The officer broadcasted a description of the vehicle, which was stopped at 8th Street.
In addition to Weston, the driver was identified as Ryan Steck, 35, of Berlin, and the front seat passenger was identified as Etoyi Roach, 40, of Seaford. Because the occupants were acting suspiciously as officers approached the vehicle, a K-9 scan was ordered with positive results. A search of the vehicle yielded roughly 1,500 individual bags of heroin neatly packaged in bundles to indicate intent to distribute.
In addition, a secondary search of Roach revealed a large plastic bag of suspected cocaine located in his groin area. The cocaine was in an amount to suggest distribution. Once in custody, Steck was searched at the Public Safety Building and a large bag of cocaine was found in his groin area as well. Both Steck and Roach were charged with multiple counts of possession with intent to distribute.