Updated 2:53 p.m.
A 46-year-old man died following a police chase in Ridgewood Wednesday afternoon after he told officers that he was having trouble breathing, authorities said.
The man, Daniel Levitt, was sitting on a motorized scooter in front of a home on Grand View Avenue at about 2:10 p.m. when a sergeant and police officer spotted him, cops said.
After seeing the cops, the man, who had an active arrest warrant relating to a petit larceny incident, fled down Grandview Avenue in the wrong direction, according to police. The officers began to follow the man in their unmarked vehicle until he collided into the side view mirror of an SUV near Grand View Avenue and Bleecker Street.
He then fell off his scooter and tried to run, but the cops nabbed him down the block.
The man then told officers that he had a pre-existing medical condition and was having difficulty breathing, cops said. He also told them that he had medication for his condition and the officers then administered the medication.
According to published reports, he was asthmatic and also had a pacemaker. When he couldn’t breath, he asked the officers to administer his inhaler.
At that point, the man stood up and moments later he became unconscious. His handcuffs were then removed and the officer began chest compressions while EMS was called, authorities said.
He was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The medical examiner is determining the cause of death and the Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating the incident.
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