Treon Johnson dies hours after being taken into custody

Police say officers used pepper spray, Taser gun on man accused of beating dogs

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The family of a man suspected of abusing dogs wants to know what led to his mysterious death.

Treon Johnson died just hours after being taken into custody Thursday.

Hialeah police said a 911 caller claimed the 27-year-old man jumped into the backyard of his home and was beating his dog with a metal pipe. Witnesses told police Johnson then jumped into a neighboring yard and began beating another dog.

When officers arrived, Johnson tried to run away and violently resisted arrest, so officers had to use pepper spray and a Taser gun to restrain him, police said.

Johnson was initially taken to Hialeah Hospital. He was transferred to North Shore Medical Center and then Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died about 6 p.m. Thursday.

"He was in very good shape," stepfather Rickey Curry told Local 10 on Tuesday.

Curry said he wants closure.

"I just want to know what happened because there's always two sides to every story," Curry said.

Police said a medical examiner will determine the cause of death.