An autopsy is planned for today on the body of a Waterloo man who died over the weekend while in Des Moines police custody. Des Moines Police were called to a public library branch Saturday afternoon where a man was causing a disturbance by shouting, acting strangely and refused to leave.
An officer arrived just as the man, identified as 50-year-old Ricarless Cortezz Wright, came out the doors and ran. The officer chased him and tried to arrest him, but Wright allegedly hit the officer in the face, knocked her to the ground and kicked her.
The officer says she hit Wright in the knee with her baton as other officers arrived and helped take him into custody. At the jail, Wright was unresponsive and taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The state D.C.I. is investigating.