Man dies in police custody on Shore; cause unknown

Cause of death is pending autopsy; homicide detectives investigating Maryland State Police are trying to determine today how an apparently homeless man authorities said they were trying to help died in police custody yesterday after repeated encounters with law enforcement on the Eastern Shore near Centreville. Raymond H. Bartles Jr., 43, whose last known address was in Virginia, was pronounced dead at Easton Memorial Hospital shortly after a trooper had handcuffed him and his body went limp on Route 312, north of Ridgely, according to state police. Police said they contacted Bartles' sister in Western Maryland who told them her brother had been a transient carnival worker who wandered around the country and had been hospitalized in Florida "for an extended period of time due to multiple medical conditions." Authorities said... [read full story]