Man dies in police custody in Houston after attacking Whataburger director

A man without pants, accused of attacking a Whataburger official, died after he stopped breathing while he was arrested by Houston police on Thanksgiving Day, officials said.

The suspect, believed to be between 40 years old, wore only a shirt when he started throwing chairs, spilling tea cups and jumping on the counter at around 7pm. in the fast-food restaurant located in the Bissonnet 9500 block near Braeburn, said Houston Deputy Chief of Police Larry Satterwhite.

He allegedly threw a manager on the ground around 7 pm while pursuing him and other employees trying to escape the restaurant. A worker responsible for the driving service at the time of the attack and during the police investigation stated that the suspect had "ransacked the whole place".

The employees pushed him away, pushing him to go to a large parking lot in front of Bissonnet where two policemen found him and pursued him. A fight ensued, Satterwhite said.

"There was a fight to handcuff him," Satterwhite said. "Once they handcuffed them, they started to move him and he started fighting again."

During his incarceration, the unidentified man collapsed and stopped breathing, police said. He was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital Southwest, where he died.

Satterwhite said that the man appeared to be in crisis at the time of the Whataburger ransacking. The employee struck on the ground was not seriously injured, but had a scuffed knee, police said.

While the police were waiting for paramedics to treat the suspect, Satterwhite said he noticed a two-inch puncture wound at his side. It was not known immediately what the cause of the injury was or whether it had contributed to his death.

Both officers were carrying body cameras that were lit during the arrest, Satterwhite said.

Prior to the alleged attack, the suspect stopped at the nearby Shell Station, where a cashier said to have hit the window and spilled a trash can.