Death in custody of man, 32, under investigation after hit-run crash at Andrews Farm

A man has died in a violent incident at a home in Adelaide’s north that followed a hit-run crash. Police are now treating the incident as a death in custody.

The injured man is put into an ambulance at Andrews Farm. Picture: 7NEWS

A man with a history of violent crime has died while being arrested by police called to a fight inside a house in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.

Sonny Terry Sumner, 32, hours earlier had run over a man in a street during a domestic disturbance at Andrews Farm.

Police and ambulances were called to St Lawrence Ave at 3pm on Saturday following reports of a confrontation between two groups of people known to each other.

They found a 26-year-old man who had been hit by a white Toyota Prado with suspected stolen number plates, registration number WWJ 662.

He was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with serious but non life-threatening injuries.

Then, just after 9pm, police were called to a house on Karinga Ave, Craigmore, by neighbours who reported hearing a loud argument.

When police patrols arrived, they saw the Toyota Prado involved in the Andrews Farm hit-run in the driveway, and could hear a violent altercation inside.

Paramedics with the man injured in the hit run at Andrews Farm. Picture: 7NEWS

They entered the home and found Sumner holding a knife and wrestling with another man on its lounge floor.

He was disarmed and handcuffed before officers removed him from the property.

When they were outside the house, Sumner said he had stabbed himself and collapsed.

Police administered first aid, including CPR, until paramedics arrived and took over.

Sumner was unable to be resuscitated and died at the scene.

The man he was fighting with, a 41-year-old from Craigmore, was taken to the Lyell McEwin Hospital for treatment to wounds on his hands.

Major Crime Investigation Branch Inspector Brett Featherby said on Sunday the incident was being treated as a death in custody and a report would be prepared for the coroner.

“There will be an independent investigation into the incident and the full cause of death,” he said.

A wanted bulletin issued by SA Police for Sonny Sumner last month. Picture: SA Police

Sumner, who police asked not to be identified until next of kin were notified, last month was the subject of an arrest warrant for breaching a supervision order.

Relatives and friends posted tributes on social media on Sunday afternoon expressing their grief.

Sumner was imprisoned in 2011 over a violent carjacking and police chase on the South Eastern Freeway in the Adelaide Hills the previous year.

Then 21, he had been charged with a series of offences including illegal use of a motor vehicle, theft, aggravated robbery, arson and assault.

Sentencing Sumner to five years jail with three-years non-parole, Judge Rauf Soulio described his offences as “terrifying’’.

“Your criminal behaviour over a relatively short period can be described as a rampage,’’ he said.

Sumner was charged with theft, aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and arson for setting alight a stolen car over the Adelaide Hills incident.

Anyone with information about the weekend’s incidents, particularly the number plates found on the Toyota Prado, is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online.