By Raymond McCaffrey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 29, 2006

A 24-year-old man suspected of assaulting his girlfriend died Wednesday after being handcuffed following a violent struggle with a half-dozen officers, Anne Arundel County police said.

The man was identified as Steven Ray Ellison, of the 100 block of Magothy Beach Road, Pasadena, police said. Ellison stopped breathing during the scuffle and was pronounced dead at Baltimore Washington Medical Center, police said.

Police are awaiting an autopsy to determine the cause of death, said Lt. David Waltemeyer, a police spokesman. The officers remain on duty while the case is under investigation by county homicide detectives.

The case marks the third time this year that Anne Arundel police have been involved in the death of a criminal suspect.

In the other two cases, the suspects were fatally shot.

Waltemeyer called instances of suspects dying while in custody rare. "In the last five years, we've probably had two other cases," he said.

Police said in a statement that Ellison "violently struggled with officers before being placed in handcuffs" outside a home in the 400 block of Center Street in Pasadena. Waltemeyer said police protocol in such situations is to "use only the force necessary to effect the arrest."

Police received a call at 10:53 p.m. regarding a disturbance at the home, then learned while responding that a man was assaulting a woman.

Police said Ellison, who was visiting a man renting a room at the house, had become "delusional and violent." He allegedly assaulted his girlfriend, a friend, and the man and woman who owned the home, police said.

One police officer who tried to arrest Ellison outside the home was "able to take him to the ground" as he tried to handcuff him, police said.

"Approximately five additional officers arrived and assisted the initial officer with placing handcuffs on Ellison," the statement read. "After being handcuffed, Ellison was determined to be unresponsive."

Police said the officers tried to resuscitate Ellison before an ambulance arrived. One officer and the suspect's girlfriend were also treated for injuries, Waltemeyer said.

The county's two officer-involved shootings this year involved armed suspects, Waltemeyer said.

One man was fatally shot after charging at officers with a pair of scissors, he said. A county police officer also shot a man with a gun who was a suspect in a shooting.

Although Anne Arundel police work with crisis teams when dealing with mentally ill people, those health workers would not have been called to yesterday's incident in Pasadena because violence was involved.

"They can respond to people who seem to have some sort of mental disorders but are not a threat to themselves or others," Waltemeyer said.