By Kevin P. Connolly
Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO — An investigation is underway after a handcuffed, home-invasion robbery suspect broke away from Orlando police during his arrest and jumped off a third-floor balcony in MetroWest to his death Wednesday.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting an “in-custody death investigation,” Orlando Police Sgt. Lovetta Quinn-Henry said.
The name of the person who died was not released.
He was reportedly involved in a hit-and-run crash just before 5 a.m. at 6401 Time Square Avenue in the parking lot of the Hamptons at Metrowest.
A caller said a white Nissan Maxima crashed into two other cars in the complex’s parking lot.
“When officers arrived in the complex, they found the suspect vehicle in the parking lot with the engine running,” Quinn-Henry said in a report.
Then the investigation led officers to 3250 Corona Village Way No. 308, a unit just a short walk away from the crash, where the driver and passenger were found.
“At some point, both passenger and driver complained of feeling sick. Orlando Fire and Rescue responded and treated both at the scene,” she wrote in a statement. “Both subjects appeared to be under the influence of some unknown substances.”
Police later learned that both were wanted on warrants for home invasion robbery, aggravated battery with a weapon, aggravated assault with a firearm and false imprisonment.
OPD detectives obtained the warrants in early September.
Both suspects were placed under arrest and were being searched when one ran away.
That person “threw himself over the third floor balcony,” she wrote.
Orlando Fire and Rescue began treatment while they transported him to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.
The other person is being questioned by OPD.
The OPD officers involved in the “in-custody death” were placed on paid administrative leave, a move Quinn-Henry called “standard procedure.”
Copyright 2014 The Orlando Sentinel