Man who died in struggle with Fresno police was high on meth

FRESNO - A man who died after struggling with police officers early Monday morning in south Fresno had three times the toxic level of methamphetamine in his system, the Fresno County coroner said today.

Ricardo Varela’s methamphetamine level was 369 nanograms per milliliter, Dr. David Hadden said. Anything over 100 is considered toxic.

Varela died while struggling with officers attempting to take him into custody at Jensen and East avenues. Police fired less-than-lethal beanbag rounds and electronic stun darts at Varela with no apparent effect before five officers tackled him and took him to the ground, Chief Jerry Dyer said Monday.

According to police, Varela ran a stoplight at Church and Cedar avenues and ignored officers attempting to make a traffic stop. After getting out of his car at a service station at Jensen and East, Varela walked toward officers in “an aggressive manner,” Dyer said.

He stopped breathing after struggling with officers for four or five minutes. Efforts to revive Varela through CPR were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Community Regional Medical Center.

Hadden said the levels of methamphetamine in Varela’s system could be mitigated by Varela’s tolerance to the drug and that could depend upon how long he had been using the stimulant.

“If I had that level, I’d be dead,” Hadden said. “The question is, could this affect his behavior and the answer is yes.”

Hadden said the autopsy on Varela is not complete. The condition of Varela’s heart and brain is still being studied. It has been established that Varela was hit by eight beanbag rounds as well as the stun darts.

This story was originally published April 9, 2009 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Man who died in struggle with Fresno police was high on meth."