Man taken into custody dies after allegedly assaulting a San Bernardino County deputy

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department detectives are investigating the death of a Rancho Cucamonga man who’d been taken into custody after allegedly assaulting a deputy, authorities said.

Deputies went to the 10100 block of Foothill Boulevard in Rancho Cucamonga at 12:22 a.m. Tuesday to check reports of a man trying to open cars and apartment doors. According to the Sheriff’s Department, a man later identified as Mohd Hijaz, 32, was found sitting in a bush screaming unintelligible words as deputies arrived on scene.

Deputies offered support from a distance while calling paramedics to the site, the department said in a news release, but then Hijaz moved toward them and did not comply with warnings to stop. As deputies used force to restrain him, Hijaz allegedly hit an officer in the face, the department said.

Hijaz suffered an unspecified “medical emergency” at some point — the department did not say precisely whether that occurred before or after he was being restrained. After personnel from the Rancho Cucamonga Fire Department and American Medical Response arrived, Hijaz was brought to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The coroner’s office is conducting an autopsy to determine a cause of death. The Sheriff’s Department declined to comment further on the investigation.

Law enforcement officials could not say whether Hijaz was suspected of committing a crime before allegedly assaulting a deputy. Nor would they say how many deputies arrived on scene or whether the use of force to restrain Hijaz is being scrutinized.