PHOENIX — A 45-year-old woman who died in police custody at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport may have died after becoming tangled in her handcuffs while trying to free herself, authorities said Saturday.
Carol Ann Gotbaum — who was trying to get on a flight to Tucson — died in a police holding room after being arrested for disorderly conduct Friday afternoon, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman. Hill said investigators told him Gotbaum was from New York, but he wasn't positive of her city of residence.
Gotbaum was arrested after becoming irate with gate crews who refused to allow her to board a plane, Hill said. She began yelling and screaming, and officers handcuffed her and took her to the holding room, where she continued screaming.
Hill said officers checked on her when she stopped screaming and found her unresponsive.
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Hill said investigators told him it appeared that Gotbaum may have tried to get out of her handcuffs, became tangled in the process and the cuffs ended up around her neck. She was unconscious when officers discovered her.
Efforts to revive her failed. A cause of death will be determined by the Maricopa County medical examiner.
"She was very agitated and irate and angry," Hill said. "These are the things that led to the disorderly conduct arrest."
Authorities said neither a Taser nor pepper spray was used on the woman.
Gotbaum was denied entry to a US Airways Express flight headed to Tucson because she was late arriving and the plane was already preparing to depart, US Airways spokesman Derek Hanna said Saturday. She was rebooked on the next flight, but "she became extremely irate, apparently running up and down the gate area."
