Coroner Identifies Oakland Man Who Died Wedged Between Buildings

Update, Thursday July 23: Alameda County coroner's officials have identified the 23-year-old man who died last week after he was found wedged between two buildings in East Oakland as Richard Lamar Linyard Jr. of Oakland.

The coroner's bureau has not yet released Linyard's cause of death pending completion of its investigation, which will include toxicology tests.

Family and friends have opened a Gofundme page to raise money for Linyard's funeral expenses.

Original post: Oakland police say they're investigating the death of a man who apparently died after wedging himself into a tiny opening between a home and a garage while fleeing officers.

The Police Department says the incident occurred late Sunday afternoon when officers attempted to stop a car on 65th Avenue near International Boulevard. According to police, the suspect, described as 6 feet tall and 190 pounds, fled. He was found within an hour, trapped between two buildings about three blocks from the site of the original stop.

Police say the man was found "unresponsive," that CPR was performed and that he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

On Monday, the department released the photos shown here, which suggest the man was trapped in a space less than a foot wide.

Here's the Police Department's full statement on the incident:

On July 19, at 5:43 PM, Oakland Police officers on patrol conducted a traffic enforcement stop in the 1300 block of 65th Avenue. About one minute into the car stop, the male driver fled from the vehicle on foot into nearby yards. Per departmental policy, the officers who made the stop did not pursue the man into the yards until additional officers responded to the scene and a perimeter was set. OPD Communications advised the subject was wanted for an active $10, 000 warrant. Additionally, officers discovered approximately a pound of marijuana inside the vehicle.

A designated search team began a systematic search of the area and yards. Approximately 30 minutes into the search, officers located the subject in the 1600 block of 64th Avenue. The 23-year-old, 6 foot, 190-lb man was unresponsive, wedged in a small space between two buildings. Officers immediately performed CPR while waiting for emergency medical personnel to arrive on scene. Emergency medical personnel arrived and transported the subject to a local hospital, where he was pronounced deceased by medical staff. At this time the subject’s name is being withheld pending family notification.

There were no uses of force by any officers at any time during this incident.

In accordance with standard protocol, the death is being investigated by the Oakland Police Department Criminal Investigation Division-Homicide, Internal Affairs Division and the Alameda County Coroner’s Office to determine the cause of death.

The investigation is on-going and anyone with information is asked to contact the Oakland Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at (510) 238-3821 or the TIP LINE at 777-2805.