A man charged in the armed abduction of his girlfriend died Thursday in police custody, less than four hours after he was arrested, according to police.
Officers contacted emergency medical personnel, administered Narcan, conducted CPR and used a defibrillator as they attempted to revive him, according to police. D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services workers responded and pronounced him dead, police said.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of Parker’s death, according to police. The internal affairs bureau of the police department is investigating the incident, Paris Lewbel, the police department’s deputy director of communications, said in a statement.
A woman who answered a cellphone number listed for Parker declined to comment.
Parker was arrested without incident at 6:45 a.m. Thursday by members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force on a warrant for armed kidnapping, police said.
His arrest had followed an extensive search in late July for his girlfriend, Selita Tashaun Lee, who police said appeared to have been kidnapped at gunpoint and forced into a vehicle in Northwest Washington.
The search for Lee in July started at 3:40 a.m. A person had told police he saw a woman forced into a vehicle against her will, police said in July. Her relatives pleaded for her release. Lee was found safe some hours later, according to police and relatives.
Parker’s arrest in the case came after more than six months.
Efforts to reach Lee and her relatives on Sunday were unsuccessful.