A 64-year-old Albuquerque man died Aug. 2 after an encounter with a Taos County sheriff’s deputy outside the Mid Town Lounge in Arroyo Hondo, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were dispatched to the bar that evening after reports of a disorderly individual in the parking lot, the Sheriff’s Office said. Emergency medical personnel were staged nearby until the situation was cleared.

When deputies arrived, they encountered Patrick Walsh, who friends and a witness said had been acting paranoid and erratic. That account was supported by deputy body camera footage and security video from the lounge, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

A deputy attempted to assist and assess Walsh, but he became combative and bit the deputy as the officer tried to restrain him, officials said. With the help of a friend, the deputy was able to restrain Walsh, who then suffered what authorities described as a “medical episode.”

“It is unclear if the episode was the result of a narcotics overdose or a pre-existing medical condition,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The deputy immediately began resuscitation efforts until emergency personnel arrived. Walsh was pronounced dead at the scene and taken to the Office of the Medical Investigator for an autopsy.

Law enforcement agencies across the country have described similar incidents as “excited delirium syndrome,” a controversial term used to explain sudden death in individuals who are agitated, aggressive or show extreme paranoia, often in police custody. The condition is not recognized by the American Medical Association or the American Psychiatric Association, though it has appeared in police reports nationwide when people died after being restrained.

While the Taos County Sheriff’s Office has not ruled this as the cause of death, the autopsy will determine the official cause of death and contributing factors. The case remains under investigation.