A crazed man high on PCP who died after cops took him into custody and put him in a straitjacket-like full-body wrap was the victim of a homicide, the city medical examiner ruled Friday.
Ronald Singleton, 45, was busted on July 13 after he cursed and screamed in the back of a cab near St. Patrick’s Cathedral, forcing the panicked cabby to pull over and summon cops, police said.
Singleton fought with the officers, was placed in the protective body wrap and put in an ambulance for a trip to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric exam.
But on the way, he went into cardiac arrest, so the ambulance diverted to nearby Roosevelt Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Singleton’s death came just four days before Eric Garner of Staten Island died during an NYPD arrest — a death the ME also ruled a homicide.
The ME said Singleton’s death was caused by the “physical restrain[t] by police during excited delirium due to acute [PCP] intoxication.”
Hypertension, heart disease and obesity were contributing factors, the ME said — adding that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office was investigating the case.
His widow, Lyn Singleton, 44, lashed out at police as she mourned her husband’s death.
“They used brute force, not paying attention to the person’s needs. They should have paid attention to him,” she said. “I’m lost, I can’t find my way. I loved him. I was thinking this was very similar to Garner.”
Garner, 43, whose death during a July 17 arrest for selling loose cigarettes inflamed racial tensions against the NYPD, was the victim of a homicide by chokehold, the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled early this month.
He died of a “compression of neck (chokehold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police,” the ME said.
But, like Singleton, the 350-pound Garner’s poor health, including “acute and chronic bronchial asthma; obesity; hypertensive cardiovascular disease,” were also “contributing conditions” to his death, the ME said.