A 29-year-old man may have died of a drug overdose Monday after snatching methamphetamine that Lakewood police had taken from him during his arrest, officials said Tuesday.
Joshua Giebel was in a holding cell when he allegedly reached around a partition and grabbed the drugs without police noticing, said Steve Davis, Lakewood police spokesman. Giebel died later at the Jefferson County Jail.
Lakewood officers and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office are investigating Giebel’s death, which happened within hours of his arrest Sunday night.
Giebel was driving a motorcycle when he was stopped at about 11 p.m. Sunday for several traffic violations near West Alameda Avenue and South Depew Street, Davis said. He was later arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, he said.
Lakewood police took Giebel to a holding cell. Another man who was in the cell told investigators later that he saw Giebel take the drugs and put them in his mouth, Davis said.
Investigators confirmed that some of the drug was missing.
About 3 a.m. Monday, police took Giebel to the Jefferson County Jail. About 20 minutes later, Giebel started sweating and shaking, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley.
Giebel then collapsed. Resuscitation efforts began, and he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died at about 4:30 a.m. An official cause of death has not been determined.
The Jefferson County coroner’s office will perform an autopsy, Davis said.
Davis said the holding-cell area is under video surveillance and a tape is being reviewed.
Staff writer Ann Schrader contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
