An autopsy conducted Saturday didn?t reveal any official cause or manner of death for the Bel Air man who tried to hide cocaine by swallowing it at the Harford County Detention Center on Friday night, police said.
Corrections officers were searching Justin Eugene Bolden, 25, in a bathroom at the detention center around 9:20 p.m. when he began to resist and try to swallow several small plastic bags containing 15 grams of cocaine, said Sgt. David Betz, a spokesman for the Harford County Sheriff?s Office.
A stun device was then used to get Bolden to comply with orders, he added.
The cocaine apparently obstructed Bolden?s airway, and officers and two nurses at the detention center then attempted the Heimlich maneuver, Betz said.
After the maneuver, Bolden kicked one of the deputies in the groin, forcing officers to get him under control. In the process, Bolden suffered a laceration to his head.
An ambulance took Bolden to Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 10 p.m.
Officially, the Saturday autopsy didn?t reveal a cause of death, but examiners said the head injury was not a contributing factor, Betz said. An upcoming test will determine whether the electrical pulse from the stun device could have factored in the death.
“He had an obstruction in his airway,” Betz said Sunday. “That?s why he went to the hospital.”
Authorities said they would like to know when exactly he placed the cocaine in his mouth because nobody saw him do this. A value for the cocaine has not yet been determined, officials said.
Bolden, 25, was arrested around 8:15 at a Wawa in Street, charged with violating probation.
He had been arrested two weeks ago and charged with kidnapping and beating Wardell Brooks in a dispute over the sale of a truck, but was released May 24 on $50,000 bail, according to court records.
Bolden?s father, 48-year-old Johnny Bolden, of Aberdeen, is being held on $200,000 bail after police said he held a knife to Brooks? throat during the alleged kidnapping.
Justin Bolden?s brother, Reginald Leon Bolden, 24, was being sought by police on attempted murder charges after an unrelated shooting outside the Waffle House in Belcamp on May 24.
