VISTA: Sheriff's investigators are looking into the death of a shoplifting suspect who was being subdued by customers outside a liquor store in Vista.

The county Medical Examiner's Office identified the man as Isaac A. Brown, 30.

Deputies said witnesses reported that shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday, the store clerk suspected that the man, who appeared drunk, had stolen a beer. The clerk checked a surveillance camera to verify the theft before confronting the man.

Sheriff's Lt. Dennis Brugos said the man was outside the store on South Santa Fe Avenue near Palmyra Drive drinking the beer.

The clerk, assisted by a few customers, approached the man and held him down so he could be arrested, Brugos said. A deputy arrived within a few minutes and handcuffed the man.

The deputy turned the man over and saw he was distressed, Brugos said. The deputy administered CPR, but the man was declared dead about 7 p.m. at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside.

–L.S.