Man Dies After Being In Joliet Police Department Custody

A 37-year-old man died after ingesting a large amount of an unknown substance while in police custody. It was on Tuesday, January 28th, that Joliet Police Officers were called to the area of Briggs and Washington Streets in response to a narcotics investigation. 37-year-old Eric D. Lurry Jr. was taken into custody and transported to the Joliet Police Department. Upon arrival at the police station officers observed that the subject appeared to concealing drugs in his mouth.

Officer’s were able to retrieve the drugs and removed what Joliet Police have described as a large bag of suspected cocaine from his mouth. Lurry became unresponsive soon after and officers immediately rendered aid to stablize Lurry. He was transported to St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet where he died on Wednesday morning. The Major Crimes Task Force responded to conduct the investigation. Multiple interviews have been conducted and an autopsy has been completed. The investigation is ongoing and remains active.