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DC Police officer on 'non-contact status' following death of suspect in police custody

A DC Police Spokesperson says the reassignment is standard department practice when an in-custody death is investigated by internal affairs.

WASHINGTON — DC Police are providing new details on an internal affairs investigation currently underway after a man died in Metropolitan Police custody roughly four hours after he was arrested.

One officer has been placed on "non-contact status" until the investigation concludes, according to a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) spokesperson.

Both the temporary reassignment and the internal affairs investigation itself are standard department protocol after an in-custody death, the spokesperson said.

According to a police statement initially obtained by WUSA9 on Saturday, 44-year-old Marquez Parker was arrested by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force around 6:45 Thursday morning. They were serving an armed kidnapping warrant stemming from a summer incident when, police allege, he abducted his girlfriend by forcing her into the trunk of a car at gunpoint. She was found safe hours later.

By 10:30 A.M., DC Police say officers found him unresponsive in a cell at MPD's Second District station. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

MPD regulations require officers to frequently check on detainees in holding cells.

According to the department's "Holding Facilities" standard operating procedure, detainees held in holding cells must be physically observed "every thirty minutes."

When asked how many times Parker was checked on, a police spokesperson said: "I do not know."

The same official said Parker was held alone; no other detainees shared his cell.

According to the MPD spokesperson, officers "had reasonable suspicion" Parker suffered a drug overdose but are waiting for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine an official cause and manner of death.

When asked what led to their suspicion, the same official said that while no physical evidence of drug paraphernalia was identified at the scene, the "symptoms that he was experiencing" led officers to believe it was an overdose.

Officers attempted to revive Parker with Narcan, CPR, and an AED without success, according to a police statement.

The ACLU of DC is now calling for DC Police to improve their safety and oversight procedures.

An MPD statement said Parker's initial arrest occurred "without incident" and a spokesperson said that there were "no physical injuries to him that we were aware of or noticed" when he was taken into custody.

The same spokesperson added that, when the arresting officers transferred Parker to the Second District station, the suspect seemed to be in fine health.

When asked if there had been any physical altercation between MPD personnel and Parker, either during his arrest or after he had been taken into custody, the spokesperson responded: "not to my knowledge."

According to that official, the internal affairs investigation could take several weeks and will likely include a review of body cameras, cell block surveillance video, interviews with the arresting officers, and the people who were managing the cell block.

WATCH NEXT: Police confirm a man died while in their custody in Fairfax Co.

Fairfax Co. Police say there was no force used to take the man into custody. It was also not the first time this week officers encountered him.

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