By LaVendrick Smith
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — A man who lost consciousness while he was in custody last month died several days later, Dallas police said.
Officials announced the death of Andre Leshon Lee on Sunday as they released body camera footage of his arrest.
Police said Lee had broken into a home in Pleasant Grove on Aug. 28, threatened the homeowner and barricaded himself into a room.
Body camera footage shows officers trying to persuade Lee to come out of the room. After a few minutes, he leaves and he’s handcuffed and taken outside, where he loses consciousness. A woman who identified herself as his wife told officers at the scene that Lee was under the influence of cocaine.
Lee was taken to a hospital, where he died Sept. 2. Officials are waiting for a toxicology report.
The police department’s Special Investigations Unit and the Dallas County district attorney’s office are investigating, Deputy Chief Reuben Ramirez said.
The body camera footage was released Sunday as part of a new department policy implemented after recent protests against police misconduct nationwide.
In general, police — by law — may refuse to make public any information, including video, from an ongoing investigation. But the law doesn’t prohibit them from releasing the information.
The Police Department had pledged to implement a policy by the end of June on releasing videos from its most serious encounters.
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