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Wake DA: No criminal charges against Raleigh police after man's death in custody

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman on Wednesday closed the investigation into a man's January death shortly after his arrest, saying no Raleigh police officers will face criminal charges in the case.

Posted Updated

By
Matthew Burns
, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor, & Amanda Lamb, WRAL reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman on Wednesday closed the investigation into a man's January death shortly after his arrest, saying no Raleigh police officers will face criminal charges in the case.

Curtis Roeman Mangum, 32, was arrested on drug-related charged during a Jan. 10 traffic stop in the 400 block of Rose Lane.

Mangum was taken to the Raleigh Police Department's South-East District Station on Cross Link Road, but after about 15 minutes there, paramedics took him to WakeMed, where he died a few hours later.

An autopsy report released Tuesday indicated that Mangum died of acute cocaine and alcohol intoxication, and the medical examiner found a knotted piece of plastic in his stomach, which Freeman said indicates that he had swallowed a bag of drugs.

When Mangum was arrested, Freeman said, police found he had some marijuana and cocaine on him, as well as a small scale and plastic bags.

"Shortly thereafter, officers observed that he appeared to be chewing or manipulating something in his mouth. He was told to spit out whatever was in his mouth. He denied that he had anything in his mouth. His mouth was checked, and nothing was found," Freeman wrote in her final report.

In an interview with WRAL News, Freeman said Mangum "consistently denied" to police and to another person in the car with him that he had swallowed anything.

Officers said Mangum appeared to be impaired when he was at the police station, so paramedics were called. Freeman said he walked to the ambulance without assistance, but once inside, he became combative and had to be handcuffed to a stretcher.

He died at the hospital about three hours after his arrest.

Video of Mangum entering and leaving the police station was released publicly under a court order after the police department said it would refute video circulating on social media suggesting that officers had mistreated Mangum.

"It was clear he had not suffered at the hands of these law enforcement officers any kind of physical abuse," Freeman said. "[There are] no grounds to go forward with any kind of criminal investigation or prosecution against these officers."

Mangum's family and friends have been publicly critical of Raleigh police since his death. Freeman said she met with the family Wednesday morning to discuss the findings of the investigation and her decision.

"Sometimes, families are not at a point where they want to hear that," she said. "We understand that families are going through a grieving process, and we understand that part of grieving often is anger."

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