BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The Kern County coroner has released details on the man that stopped breathing when he was detained by CHP officials on August 30.
Officials said 40-year-old Jason Gonzalez's cause of death is complications of physical restraint with neck compression, with contributing factors of methamphetamine and phencyclidine intoxication and hypertensive heart disease. The coroner also said that the manner of his death is an accident.
On August 30, Gonzalez was detained by the California Highway Patrol on Highway 58 off Union Avenue. He was taken to Kern Medical for medical aid where he died five days later.
The Bakersfield Police Department says Gonzalez became combative and resistant with officers when they approached him that morning. Gonzalez's family told 23ABC that they do not know why he was walking on the freeway, but they say they know one thing, that he wasn't typically the type to fight.
