DALLAS - A 46-year-old man who appeared to be hallucinating struggled with police at his northeast Dallas apartment late Wednesday before he died a short time later at a hospital, police said.

Richard Smith was outside his home about 10:30 p.m. screaming, cursing and punching the air as officers arrived at an apartment complex in the 6400 block of Ridgecrest Road, east of Greenville Avenue, police said.

When Senior Cpl. Shawn Freeman and Officer Brenton Hughes tried to talk to Mr. Smith, he went inside his second-floor apartment. He then came back out through a window onto a breezeway and jumped to the ground below, said Sgt. Gary Kirkpatrick, commander of the unit investigating the case.

Mr. Smith landed hard on his back and head, and the officers approached and tried to handcuff him, Sgt. Kirkpatrick said.

"But he started swinging at them, hitting and kicking," Sgt. Kirkpatrick said. "He did strike both the officers involved and a civilian witness that had called police and was trying to help the police."

One of the officers shocked Mr. Smith with his Taser two times, but it apparently had little effect. They stunned him again and were able to handcuff him and eventually put plastic cuffs on his ankles, Sgt. Kirkpatrick said.

Mr. Smith continued to thrash and banged his head against a police squad car window as officers took him to Green Oaks Hospital for mental health treatment, police said. After being given medication, he began having a seizure and fell unconscious, Sgt. Kirkpatrick said.

Paramedics took Mr. Smith to Medical City Dallas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 12:15 a.m., police said.

Cpl. Freeman, 41, and Officer Hughes, 26, were placed on routine paid administrative leave Thursday, said Sgt. Gil Cerda, a Dallas police spokesman. Cpl. Freeman has been with the department for 12 years and Officer Hughes for 10 months, according to police records.

No one else was seriously injured in the altercation. The investigation is ongoing, and the determination of Mr. Smith's cause of death is pending toxicology tests.

DMN staff writer Rachel Slade contributed to this report