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Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said his office is investigating the death because it followed an interaction with police. He also temporarily withheld the man's identity.
City police "received multiple 911 calls from the 600 block of Madison Avenue...regarding a man walking on the roofs and attempting to break into homes" shortly before 5 p.m. Saturday, the attorney general said.
"Officers of the Paterson Police Department and medical personnel responded to the area of 620 Madison Ave. and encountered a man who appeared injured at the exterior rear of the residence," he added.
"Two officers of the Paterson Police Department attempted to aid the injured man," Bruck said. "The man was agitated and officers briefly handcuffed him to permit them to secure him and get him onto a stretcher.
"Medical and police personnel placed the man on the stretcher and he was taken to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased at 6:22 p.m.," he said.
State law and his own office's guidelines require the attorney general to investigate deaths that occur “during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officer’s official capacity or while the decedent is in custody," Bruck said.
The guidelines guarantee that the investigation is done “in a full, impartial and transparent manner."
Once the investigation is complete, the results are presented to a grand jury -- ordinarily consisting of 16 to 23 citizens -- that determines whether or not criminal charges are in order.
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