Man dies during arrest at Olympia Transit Center

A man died Monday afternoon during his arrest outside the Olympia Transit Center.

Employees of Intercity Transit had called 911 about 2:30 p.m. to report that a man had entered a locked office at the transit center and assaulted a staff member, according to a supervisor with IT.

Police arrived and escorted the man outside of the transit center, but he became combative and started kicking and spitting at officers, according to Olympia police. The man was handcuffed and detained.

Police were treating the injured IT employee when an officer noticed that the man appeared ill. Medics on the scene attempted to treat the man, but he died and was covered with a white sheet, according to police.

The man’s identity has not been released. He was described as a white man in his 30s or 40s, according to police.

On Monday night, the Olympia Police Department released the identity of the five officers at the scene when the man died. Sgt. Dan Duncan has 26 years of law enforcement experience, Officer Rob Beckwell has 23 years of experience, Officer Jonathan Leavitt has two years of experience, Officer Javier Sola Del Vigo has three years of experience and Officer Ryan Donald has four years of experience.

Donald came under public scrutiny last May when he shot two men during an altercation in west Olympia. The Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office found that he didn’t violate state law during the shooting, and an internal investigation found that Donald didn’t violate Olympia Police Department policy.

Olympia resident Aster Kusener was about to board a bus Monday when the commotion began. Kusener saw the police take the man out of the transit center and lower him to the ground. Later they placed the man in an ambulance.

“The ambulance was shaking like he was trying to get out or something,” Kusener told The Olympian. “I saw him lay down on the ground. They were doing CPR.”

A woman who asked not to be identified said she was told by a bus driver that the man had tried to bite a security guard at the transit center, but was pushed to the ground during the scuffle.

Olympia police report that the incident will be investigated by the Thurston County Critical Incident Team, a multi-agency law enforcement task force.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Man dies during arrest at Olympia Transit Center."