Investigators were trying to determine what caused the bizarreactions and Pittsburgh Steelers Authentic Jerseys death of a Beechview man who caused havoc Thursday whenhe ran onto the Parkway West and fought with motorists and policeuntil he lost consciousness and died after being subdued with aTaser.Chad CekasPittsburgh police Assistant Chief Maurita Bryant said thecircumstances surrounding the death of Chad Cekas, 27, were underinvestigation by the city homicide squad and the Allegheny Countydistrict attorney's investigative unit.The cause and manner of death were undetermined. An autopsy wasperformed yesterday but toxicology tests normally take weeks tocomplete.Two officers from the Zone 3 station, one of whom fired theTaser, have been placed on administrative leave during the probe,which is routine.While the investigation was far from over, Assistant ChiefBryant said early indications were that the officers at the scenefollowed procedures."It's still under investigation but there's nothing that isobviously wrong," she said.The strange story began when Mr. Cekas went onto the busyhighway near the entrance to the Fort Pitt Tunnel and erraticallywalked between cars in moving lanes of traffic in what police saidmight have been a suicide attempt.John Novelli, supervisor of the Fort Pitt Tunnel, who was onduty at the time, said Mr. Cekas left his vehicle on Route 51 andentered the parkway "crawling on his hands and knees," about 100yards from the mouth of the tunnels.Many motorists passed by Mr. Cekas but some stopped. Among themwas James Harrison Jersey Paula Shubock, 56, of Forest Hills.She said she was coming down Green Tree hill about 8:30 p.m. andall three lanes were stopped. She got out of her car and saw Mr.Cekas, wearing a Ben Roethlisberger Steelers jersey, lying facedown on the roadway. Learning that another woman had called 911,Ms. Shubock said she apparently was the first to approach Mr.Cekas, who was flopping about on the pavement."I went up to him and said, 'Are you OK? What's going on?' Heturned his head and said, 'Please help me.' I said, 'Just restwhere you are, don't move.' I was stroking his back."Obviously, he was not in his right mind, I don't know why. Hisnose was bleeding. He looked terrified, wild-eyed."She said she got up and went back to her car to call 911 againto make sure police and medics were on their way. She looked backand saw three motorists trying to move Mr. Cekas and he began"flailing around. He was yelling," but she couldn't hear what hewas saying.Mr. Novelli, who by that time had made his way to the scene,said Mr. Cekas was yelling, "I want to die, I want to die." Withinseconds, he said, police officers arrived and he began fightingwith them."He was totally out of control," Chief Bryant said. "He was outof it. He was saying 'Why don't you just let me die?' He wasfighting with a motorist, struggling to go back into traffic."One of the officers used his Taser to subdue Mr. Cekas,Assistant Chief Bryant said, "and he appeared to calm down orsubmit, but then he had another burst of combativeness and he wasTasered again."Mr. Cekas became unresponsive and medics were summoned. One ofthe motorists there was a doctor and began cardiopulmonaryresuscitation, assisted by the officer who had fired the Taser.Medics arrived, used a defibrillator on Mr. Cekas and transportedhim to Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:23p.m.Officers located Mr. Cekas' car Mike Wallace Jersey on the Route 51 on-ramp. Thevehicle contained suspected drug paraphernalia.Additionally, numerous witnesses were interviewed Thursday atpolice headquarters.Mr. Cekas had an extensive arrest record dating to 1999 oncharges including drugs, theft, assault, burglary, terroristicthreats, harassment and false reports to law enforcement. He wasawaiting a nonjury trial scheduled to begin Sept. 20 on a burglarycharge.Assistant Chief Bryant said Pittsburgh police "knew him to havea troubled life."The inbound parkway remained closed as state and city policeinvestigated the incident. It reopened at about 10:20 p.m.
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