Police: Theft suspect dies of apparent overdose during arrest

SHARE Police: Theft suspect dies of apparent overdose during arrest
cpd_013.jpg

Sun-Times file photo

A theft suspect died of an apparent drug overdose after being arrested Tuesday afternoon in the West Side Austin neighborhood.

At 4:32 p.m., officers responded to a call of a battery in the 4600 block of West North Avenue and found a handcuffed theft suspect experiencing a “health issue,” according to Chicago Police.

Security officers had detained 23-year-old Donnell J. Burns and 30-year-old Veronica Calhoun after they tried to return stolen merchandise, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The suspects resisted arrest.

The officers called paramedics and learned one of the suspects had used narcotics, police said.

Burns, of the East Garfield Park neighborhood, was taken to Norwegian American Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:51 p.m., authorities said. An autopsy Wednesday did not rule on cause and manner of death, with results pending further investigation.

Calhoun, a Broadview resident, was charged with one misdemeanor count of retail theft, police said.

The Latest
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.