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Overdose cited in death of man who died in scuffle with SEPTA police

A man who died after a scuffle with a SEPTA police officer in October died of an overdose of PCP, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office said Thursday.

Omar Lopez.
Omar Lopez.Read more

A man who died after a scuffle with a SEPTA police officer in October died of an overdose of PCP, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office said Thursday.

Omar Lopez, 24, of Kensington, died shortly after arriving at Aria Health-Frankford Campus on Oct. 26, where he was taken after the confrontation - in which he was Tased - at the Market-Frankford El's Huntingdon Station.

Jeff Moran, a spokesman for the medical examiner, said the cause of death was acute phencyclidine (PCP) toxicity. His death was ruled accidental.

SEPTA Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III said he couldn't comment on the ruling or on the case until after meeting with Lopez's family, which he planned to do next week.

SEPTA gave this account of the incident shortly after it happened: An officer found Lopez inside the station just before 2 a.m. and escorted him out because the station was closing. But once outside, Lopez allegedly began arguing with another man. When the officer intervened, Lopez reacted violently, wrestling and biting him.

The officer used a Taser to subdue Lopez and afterward put him conscious and handcuffed in a patrol car and drove him to Aria Health, where he was pronounced dead.

Court records show Lopez was jailed in 2013 for drug possession and had another drug-dealing conviction that led to probation.