[font=sans-serif,Arial,Helvetica]LOWELL, Mass. - A man apparently on a cocaine binge died after he stripped naked, ran through a restaurant stabbing himself with a pen and tried to electrocute himself during a violent struggle with police."Apparently, there was a witness, a girlfriend, who has indicated to us that he took cocaine intravenously, and this may have created this bizarre behavior," said police Deputy Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee.
Richard Wheeler, 33, of Lowell, went into the DoubleTree Hotel early Friday, grabbed a pen from the front desk and ran into the restaurant, said Verdell Ekberg, spokesman for DoubleTree's parent company, Procaccianti Group of Providence.
"He was hurting himself, stabbing himself with the pen," Ekberg told The Sun of Lowell. He said Wheeler was not a hotel guest.
When police arrived, Wheeler - who had stripped naked - attacked the officers.
During a struggle in the restaurant kitchen, Wheeler tried to grab the officers' guns, threw a coffee carafe at an officer and urged police to shoot him. He also tried to stick his fingers in electrical sockets, police said.
"They attempted to restrain him as best they could," Lavallee said. "They were able to do that, but it was after some time and a protracted struggle with this gentleman."
He was taken, screaming and thrashing, to Saints Memorial Medical Center, where he later died.
An autopsy report was awaiting toxicology test results, but the death did not appear to be a homicide, said Melissa Sherman, spokeswoman for District Attorney Martha Coakley.
Three officers were injured, Lavallee said.
rotfl... what a douche....
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Richard Wheeler, 33, of Lowell, went into the DoubleTree Hotel early Friday, grabbed a pen from the front desk and ran into the restaurant, said Verdell Ekberg, spokesman for DoubleTree's parent company, Procaccianti Group of Providence.
"He was hurting himself, stabbing himself with the pen," Ekberg told The Sun of Lowell. He said Wheeler was not a hotel guest.
When police arrived, Wheeler - who had stripped naked - attacked the officers.
During a struggle in the restaurant kitchen, Wheeler tried to grab the officers' guns, threw a coffee carafe at an officer and urged police to shoot him. He also tried to stick his fingers in electrical sockets, police said.
"They attempted to restrain him as best they could," Lavallee said. "They were able to do that, but it was after some time and a protracted struggle with this gentleman."
He was taken, screaming and thrashing, to Saints Memorial Medical Center, where he later died.
An autopsy report was awaiting toxicology test results, but the death did not appear to be a homicide, said Melissa Sherman, spokeswoman for District Attorney Martha Coakley.
Three officers were injured, Lavallee said.
rotfl... what a douche....
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