Ocean City police custody death still under investigation
The case of a Greenwood, Delaware man who died while in Ocean City police custody this summer remains under investigation, Maryland State Police said.
Maryland State Police said the death of Jerome Weston, 37, who died Aug. 7, has not been closed.
On Aug. 7 at just past midnight, Weston was pulled over after Ocean City police officers noted the scent of marijuana coming from his vehicle, police said.
A K-9 unit was dispatched in the process, police said, and during a search of the vehicle, police uncovered 1,500 bags of heroin, or approximately 150 grams. Weston was taken into custody and brought to the Ocean City public safety building.
It was at this point where Weston began to complain to officers that he was having trouble breathing, police said. Ocean City police immediately contacted emergency services. Upon their arrival, Weston told emergency personnel that he had swallowed some amount of cocaine. He then began to have a seizure, police said, and later went into cardiac arrest.
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Despite lifesaving measures performed by medical technicians, Weston died at 3:30 a.m. at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, police said.
Following the incident, Ocean City Police Chief Ross Buzzuro handed the investigation off to the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit. The case is still under investigation for evidence of foul play, and a freedom of information request made by the Daily Times for the police report and dashboard camera video from the incident was denied on Friday, Sept. 23 as a result.
In a letter to Chief Buzzuro, Maryland State Police Spokesman Greg Shipley stated that the preliminary autopsy on Weston, performed on Aug. 8, found no evidence of external injuries. In Weston's stomach, medical examiners found several pieces of latex as well as a substance believed to be cocaine.
Shipley stated that all possibilities are being looked at, and nothing is being ruled out. The time frame being looked at for evidence of negligence or criminality takes place in the period Weston was put into custody and prior to being transferred to Atlantic General Hospital.