By Chelsea Phua and Bill Lindelof
cphua@sacbee.com
The name of a 48-year-old man who died Wednesday night after scuffling with officers has been released by the Sacramento County Coroners Department.
He was identified as Freddie Lewis Allen, 48, of Sacramento. The coroner's website lists his death as undetermined.
About 6 p.m., a woman reported that her boyfriend had assaulted her, said Sgt. Norm Leong, police spokesman. The telephone call to police indicated that the woman had been punched by her boyfriend.
Officers responded to an apartment in the 400 block of Harding Avenue in the Gardenland neighborhood. When they arrived, the woman was outside the apartment. She had been able to flee the apartment with her 6-year-old son and call police.
Officers were told that the woman and the boyfriend had recently separated. The woman had previously obtained a restraining order.
The woman told police that her boyfriend kicked in the door of her residence and repeatedly punched her.
The woman told police that she believed he was under the influence of drugs. Eventually, after striking the woman several times, the man passed out.
That's how officers found him when they entered the dwelling. When they attempted to handcuff him, he suddenly awakened and began fighting with officers, Leong said.
During the scuffle, he stopped breathing, prompting officers to begin administering CPR.
Sacramento Fire Department personnel responded and transported him to the hospital where he died. Officers did not use a Taser, Leong said.
On Wednesday night, about a dozen of the dead man's friends gathered across from the apartment. They held a brief prayer vigil for Allen, nicknamed "Freddie the Fader" for the way he trimmed the hair of young men in the neighborhood.
"He would do the boys' hair just right outside his apartment," said Michelle Magana, 26, pointing towards the row of apartments on Harding Avenue near American Avenue.
Magana's brother, Marc Manuel, 33, said he had known the dead man for 15 years. Manuel said that Freddie had been staying with him for a few days because Allen's girlfriend didn't allow him back to the apartment they once shared.
Allen returned Wednesday to try to patch things up with her, Manuel said.
Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.
KCRA: Man dies after fight with police
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