Joseph Hutcheson, 48, died Saturday after he was put in handcuffs for behaving 'erratically' after entering Dallas County jail's main lobby

A Texas man died after being allegedly tackled and handcuffed by officers at a county jail he had rushed into claiming his wife was trying to kill him.

Joseph Sheldon Hutcheson, 48, lost consciousness and died after running first into a lobby of a tower at the Dallas County jail and then running into the main lobby around 10am.

He was reportedly behaving 'erratically' and police said that he was handcuffed after officers believed that the man 'may be a threat to himself or others until they could calm the man down'.

A witness said that Hutcheson told officers that he couldn't breathe and his face had turned pale blue.

April Berryhill told the Dallas Morning News that officers had knees to Hutcheson's back and throat during the incident when they were putting him in cuffs.

The woman had been at the justice center to submit a property release form and said that the deceased man went into the lobby to say 'Don’t be scared of me. I just need some help.'.

Berryhill said that he did not attempt to hit officers.

'When a person is asking for help, someone should reach out and help them...try and see what's going on with the person before you go in and start treating him like a dog,' witness Tiffany Todd White told WFAA.

Hutcheson was uncuffed after being unresponsive and was given CPR at the scene after a nurse was called, according to police.

Hutcheson had reportedly been saying that his wife was going to kill him when he entered through the doors (pictured) of the jail's main lobby

Dallas Fire-Rescue took him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11.31am.

Medical examiners have not yet released a cause of death.

Hutcheson had been released from the same jail on July 19 of last year after spending five months incarcerated for drug possession and evading arrest.

He is thought to have parked his pickup truck on a crosswalk outside the jail before entering.

A witness to the outside scene told CBS DFW that Hutcheson had been clutching his chest when he got out of the vehicle.

Dallas County sheriff’s office spokesman Raul Reyna told the Dallas Morning News that something which 'appeared to be narcotics' was found in the truck.

Visitors to the Dallas County jail on Saturday were told the facility was 'closed for the day'.