A 38-year-old Renton man died two days after he reportedly tried to rob the Home Depot in Kent and became involved in a fight with store security.
Jeremy Foster died April 5 in Renton (at Valley Medical Center), and the cause and manner of death are pending, according to an April 6 report by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Kent Police officers responded at about 5:25 p.m. Monday, April 3 to the store at 26120 104th Ave. SE in response to security fighting with a robbery suspect, according to an April 7 Kent Police statement. Dispatch noted that the man had been tased by security personnel but continued to fight.
Officers arrived about three minutes after the call and saw a lone security officer on the ground with the suspect. The security officer was attempting to place the man’s hands into handcuffs. Officers assisted with the handcuffing, then placed the man in an upright seating position, according to police.
Officers noticed that the man was beginning to turn pale, so they immediately called for medical aid. They also located evidence that the man might have consumed narcotics and was exhibiting signs of a drug overdose. They administered Narcan and continued to monitor the man.
At one point, the man’s pulse stopped and officers immediately began CPR and lifesaving efforts, according to police.
Puget Sound Fire and medics arrived and continued CPR for about 40 minutes. The male regained a pulse and was transported to Valley Medical Center in Renton for additional care. The man died at the hospital on April 5, according to police and the medical examiner.
Although Kent officers did not use force on the deceased man, Chief Rafael Padilla requested that the Valley Independent Investigation Team (a multi-agency team of investigators from seven south King County police departments (Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, Port of Seattle, Tukwila) be called in to conduct the death investigation. The Kent Police Department is excluded from this investigation as they were the involved agency.
That’s team’s investigators, led by Tukwila Police, responded to the scene and are conducting the investigation.
“The death of the man in this incident is tragic,” Padilla said. “My condolences go out to the man’s family.”
Padilla said officers reportedly did what they could to save the man.
“The information we have at this point indicates that our officers did all they could to save the man,” Padilla said. “Performing CPR and other lifesaving medical aid is traumatic and takes an emotional toll on our officers. I want to thank our officers for their valiant efforts to save the man’s life.”
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