PASADENA >> A black man died early Friday morning after an encounter with Pasadena police where he was Tased twice, handcuffed and his ankles tied, officials said.

Police and sheriff’s detectives said the man was armed with a knife and a fire extinguisher. The man struggled with officers after they were called to an apartment at 252 East Orange Grove Blvd. due to a disturbance.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Capt. Steve Katz said officers tried to physically restrain the man.

That’s when they noticed the man had stopped breathing and performed CPR. They called in firefighters who continued performing CPR on the man but later pronounced him dead at the scene.

Who was the man that died?

Authorities have not released the man’s name, but his pregnant partner, Shainie Lindsay, identified him as 35-year-old Reginald Thomas, Jr.

Residents who gathered outside the Orange Grove Gardens apartment complex said they call him “JR.”

“He was all for them (the children),” said Forrest Elder, Lindsay’s brother. “They call him ‘daddy daycare.’”

Elder said Thomas was struggling with mental illness. He said Thomas was one of the people who called the police Friday for help, but “they treated him like a suspect.”

Elder, who was not at the apartment at the time of the incident, said Thomas had a fire extinguisher. He asked whether the extinguisher would have been considered a threat by the officers who arrived.

“I feel for the kids because they don’t have a dad now,” he said.

Thomas has eight children, four of them with Lindsay, according to Elder.

Elijah Floyd, whose children live at the complex, said he knows Thomas. Floyd described Thomas as a stay-at-home dad who took his children to church and was active in his children’s lives.

“He was a cool person. He was calm. He just stayed to himself and spent as much time with his kids,” Floyd said.

Protests begin to emerge

A group of friends, relatives and residents questioned the officers’ use of force outside the apartment complex on Friday. When Katz came outside the apartment to make a statement, a crowd quickly closed around Katz and shouted at him.

Among them was Pasadena Black Lives Matter activist Jasmine Richards, who could be heard shouting at police.

“You (obscenity), you all killed my friend,” shouted Richards. “He was a father of eight.”

Richards has a history of contentious encounters with Pasadena police. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail for attempting to prevent an arrest during a protest in Pasadena, according to the L.A. County District Attorney’s office.

Angry residents and members of Black Lives Matter demanded police release video of the incident, chanting “Release that tape!”

By afternoon, some made signs that read “JR Thomas’ Life Matters” and stood on Orange Grove Boulevard to protest the death.

They chanted: “Say his name! JR Thomas!”

What police say happened on Friday

The incident at the Orange Grove Gardens began with two calls regarding a disturbance at the apartment.

Katz said Pasadena police received the first call at about 2 a.m. from a cell phone, so police didn’t have an address. The caller reported a disturbance.

He said police used “electronic means” to determine where the call came from and narrowed it down to Fair Oaks Avenue and Orange Grove Boulevard.

A second 911 call came in around 2:35 a.m. The caller, a man, reported a disturbance and said a man had a knife and a fire extinguisher, according to Katz. Emergency officials on the call could also hear a struggle in the background, he said.

The caller also mentioned the man may be under the influence of drugs, Katz said.

When officers arrived, they encountered a man carrying a large knife under his left arm and a fire extinguisher in his right hand, according to Pasadena police and sheriff’s officials.

Authorities said the man did not comply with the officers’ orders and attempted to re-enter an occupied apartment. Officers ordered the man to drop the objects. When he didn’t, an officer Tased the man.

“The male was still not cooperative with the verbal commands given by the officers, and a second Taser was deployed, which seemed to have little effect on the male,” Deputy Ryan Rouzan, a Sheriff’s spokesman, said in a statement.

A fight ensued. Capt. Katz said the officers used “physical force,” handcuffed the man and restrained his ankles. Officers used a hobble restraint in order to control the man’s legs, officials said.

Police noticed the man was in distress and not breathing. Officers and firefighters did CPR on the man.

Sheriff’s homicide detectives are assisting in the investigation due to the fact the man died in Pasadena police custody.

“The loss of any life is always tragic and should be fully investigated,” Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez said in a statement. “In that regard you have my commitment that all aspects of this incident will be reviewed.”

“I respectfully request calm in our community and as difficult as it can be wait until the fact are examined,” he added.

Crowd questions police story

Many outside the apartment complex questioned the version of events Sheriff’s officials released. They accused the police of moving the body, of covering up the death, of beating the man with batons.

They asked if the officers wore body cameras and questioned why police did not call in officials with expertise in mental health issues. Several were upset that Thomas’ body remained at the scene for hours before the coroner took the body. They said it was disrespectful to Thomas’ family.

Katz said the officers did not use batons or a gun. He denied the man was “hogtied,” as one resident claimed.

He said there were six officers who responded to the calls. The officers were not wearing body cameras, he added.