Inquiry into man's death after use of pepper spray

MELBOURNE - An Australian man who died while in police custody fought with police and was sprayed with capsicum foam before his death.

An investigation has begun into the death of the 29-year-old man who was arrested outside his Melbourne house before being bundled into the back of a police van.

A police dog squad member went to the man's address about 8.30pm on Monday after a report of a stabbing, police Superintendent Shane Patton said.

It's believed the 29-year-old man stabbed a 39-year-old man, also from Noble Park, in the arm causing a minor injury.

"The dog squad member got out of his vehicle and called on the suspect to stop and drop a knife in his hand," Patton said.

"He didn't drop the knife, that's why he deployed OC foam - the male was advancing towards him with the knife and the foam made him drop the knife. A fight ensued, the suspect resisted arrest."

Police asked for an ambulance to come, and the man was assessed and cleared as being okay, Patton said.

"When he was taken out of the van he was unconscious and wasn't breathing, obviously police immediately provided CPR, called an ambulance and resuscitation attempts were made."

The man died at the scene.

Detectives from the homicide squad are investigating for the coroner and the investigation is being overseen by the ethical standards department.

There was monitoring equipment in the van but nothing was recorded.

The use of capsicum spray - widely used these days by police - was criticised as potentially lethal by a leading law group.

The spray escalates incidents into conflicts and leads to a higher risk of death, says Hugh de Kretser of the Federation of Community Legal Centres.

De Kretser said capsicum spray was introduced as an alternative to lethal force, but reliance on the weapon had crept up to the degree where it figured in 73 per cent of documented incidents in which Victorian police used force.

- AAP