Police: Teen restrained by youth facility staff in Kalamazoo later dies

A 16-year-old boy has died after going into cardiac arrest while being restrained by staff at a southwestern Michigan facility for teens with behavioral problems.

The Kalamazoo Public Safety office says the teen died Friday at a hospital.

Officers found him unresponsive Wednesday afternoon at Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo.

Police say he was taken to a hospital and investigators later learned that staff at Lakeside Academy were in the process of restraining him before he became unresponsive.

Public safety Capt. Craig Habel confirmed to MLive.com that the boy was restrained by staff after throwing a sandwich.

Habel says an autopsy was to be performed Friday.

Lakeside Academy said in a statement that it is cooperating with the police investigation into the teen’s death.

“This incident does not reflect our mission to serve and care for our clients with excellence and we are committed to making the necessary changes to ensure something like this does not happen again,” the academy said.  (AP)