LUMBERTON — The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation has begun an investigation into the early morning Monday death of a man in custody by the Lumberton Police Department.

According to information from the Lumberton Police Department, the man, who has not yet been identified, was arrested outside the Royal Farms convenience store on North Roberts Avenue.

According to a statement released on Monday to the Robesonian, police officers were dispatched to a report “of a man acting erratically at the Royal Farms convenience store.”

When officers arrived a little after 3 a.m., the man was “outside the business in the parking lot, still acting erratically,” according to the statement. “Officers began speaking with this individual and another individual, approached the officers and offered to escort the man away from the business. Both individuals left walking toward Roberts Avenue, according to the report.

While officers were inside the business talking to store employees, the man “returned to the parking lot and began rolling around on the pavement again, in front of the patrol vehicles,” according to Monday’s report.

When officers came outside and saw the man, they “requested an ambulance be dispatched to them,” according to the police report. “As the ambulance was arriving, officers handcuffed this individual as a safety precaution, due to his erratic behavior.”

“As EMS workers were beginning to assess the man, he became unresponsive,” according to the report. “Police officers and EMS personnel loaded the man into the ambulance and CPR was administered. The man was taken to UNC Health Southeastern where he was later pronounced deceased.”

As standard practice, the Lumberton Police Department has requested the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation conduct an investigation into this death and the Lumberton Police Department will conduct a parallel internal investigation, according to Monday’s report.