Inspector general investigating death of man in custody of New Britain police

The state’s inspector general is investigating after a New Britain man died in police custody earlier this week.

The Office of Inspector General announced Wednesday it would be investigating after officers from the New Britain Police Department responded Monday to the Columbia Street home of 45-year-old Marcell Felix at about 9:44 a.m. on the report of a man acting suspiciously and possibly under the influence of narcotics.

Officers encountered Felix on the porch of the home and believed he was “having a medical event” based on erratic movements and his speech, according to the inspector general.

Body camera footage released by the inspector general from one of the officers involved showed Felix making inaudible statements behind a bush outside of his home where he tried multiple times to climb onto the porch. An officer helped pull Felix down off the porch before another policeman assisted in grabbing his arm, telling him to “relax” multiple times.

“It’s OK, it’s OK,” an officer said, the body camera footage shows. “We just want to make sure he’s OK.”

Felix was handcuffed and restrained by officers while medics were called to respond.

The Office of Inspector General said as Felix was being taken in an ambulance to a local hospital he “coded” — a common term used in the medical field to describe cardiac arrest.

Felix was later pronounced dead at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain.

The death will be investigated by the state inspector general in accordance with the police accountability bill.