Raiyawa was "seated, transfixed, looking forward, hands on the steering wheel, the airbag had been deployed and he was speaking something about God, God's will, things about God," Suhr said.
He then fled the scene but was located by two SFPD officers three blocks away.
Suhr said the suspect then struck one of the officers on her head and shoulders, knocking her to the ground and "nearly unconscious." He then struck the other officer, injuring her knees, legs and wrist.
More officers arrived and brought the over-250-pound man to the ground, handcuffing him. Raiyawa stopped breathing while handcuffed, according to the SFPD. Officers and then paramedics performed CPR, but Raiyawa was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Both initial responding officers were injured. One was treated for concussion symptoms and the other for a hand injury. Both were released from the hospital Thursday.
All responding officers have been reassigned to administrative duties per department protocol. SFPD homicide and internal affairs divisions, the city's district attorney's office and the medical examiner are all investigating the in-custody death, according to the department.
Original post, Thursday July 30: An altercation between police and a man involved in a traffic collision in San Francisco's Marina District early Thursday morning ended with the in-custody death of the suspect.
The man, whose name has not been released, allegedly fled the scene at Francisco Street and Richardson Avenue after making incoherent and disturbing statements to another driver involved in the collision, and then following the other driver, Capt. Greg McEachern told reporters this morning. The other driver called 911, and officers responded to the area about 5:30 a.m.
When two officers contacted the suspect three blocks away at Pierce and Lombard streets, he refused to stop, and then fought the police as they tried to take him into custody. The San Francisco Examiner interviewed witnesses at the scene:
... Willie Gunnari, who lives at Pierce and Lombard streets, told the Examiner he was woken up by screaming female voices. He looked out of a window to see two female officers trying to detain a man who appeared to be at least 6-foot-3 and more than 250 pounds.
“Nothing they did phased [sic] this guy at all,” Gunnari said. “They were really whacking the shit out of him. I could hear it in their voice, they were scared for their lives.”
Gunnari said the officers were telling the man to get on the ground, but he wasn’t listening.
The Examiner reports several more officers joined in to assist the two responding officers, both of whom were injured in the melee. The suspect, described as a black male, was eventually taken into custody but stopped breathing while being handcuffed. Officers immediately performed CPR, but the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death has not been determined, police said.
SFGate reports one of the initial responding officers was thrown to the ground and suffered head injuries. The other was reported to have been punched in the face several times.
Both were taken to UCSF Medical Center with injuries that are not considered life-threatening, fire officials said.
This post contains reporting from Bay City News.
