A woman died in police custody Friday after she was arrested in an altercation at Sky Harbor International Airport, police said.
The woman, whose name was not released, was arrested about 3 p.m. in Terminal 4 for being “very belligerent, loud,” said Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill.
Police handcuffed the woman and took her to a holding cell at the airport. There, after about 20 minutes alone in the cell, she “went into medical distress,” Hill said.
Officers called paramedics, who could not revive the 45-year-old woman.
She was pronounced dead at 3:29 p.m., Hill said.
Police are investigating the death, and as of late Friday they still did not know how the woman died.
