For the second time in less than a week, a man who was in police custody died after being found unresponsive in the cellblock at the Honolulu Police Department headquarters on Beretania Street.

The latest incident involved a 58-year-old man who was found unconscious in a holding cell at about 7:55 a.m. yesterday, one day after being examined at a hospital for chest pains.

The man, Charles L. Wilson, was arrested and charged Friday on suspicion of third-degree assault and held on $2,000 bond after he allegedly punched another man on Ala Moana Boulevard.

Wilson, who had two prior misdemeanor convictions, couldn't make bail and remained in police custody. On Saturday at about 5:30 a.m., Wilson complained to police about chest pains and was taken to Straub Hospital for treatment. Wilson, who does not have a listed address, was later returned to his cell.

Wilson's death came less than a week after a 26-year-old man died after being taken into police custody following a string of alleged assaults in Chinatown early Dec. 5.

Honolulu police Capt. Frank Fujii yesterday called the deaths a "tragic coincidence" and said detectives with the department's internal affairs division and criminal investigation division would be looking into the most recent death. Fujii declined to discuss details of the man's arrest.

"The reality of it is that some of these things cannot be helped," he said at a news conference yesterday.

A city paramedic team was called to the cellblock and reported finding "a local male in extremely critical condition," said Donnie Gates, city Emergency Medical Services assistant chief.

"Advanced life support measures were supplied to the patient who was transported to Straub Clinic and Hospital, where he expired a short time later," Gates said.

The hospital emergency room is less than a block away from the police station.

Police officials within the Central Receiving Division, which is responsible for the cellblock, refused to identify the dead man or provide any other details about the case. Instead, they referred all questions to the department's public information office.

In the previous death, the man, who had no local address, died Wednesday night at about 11 p.m. at Straub. The City Medical Examiner's office performed an autopsy Thursday, but an official with the office said the results have been deferred.

The man, whose name police have not released, had been arrested after people reported he was pushing and shoving people in the Maunakea Marketplace.

Once the man was arrested, he was taken to the Alapai Street station for booking. Officers found him unresponsive in his cell, and he was taken by ambulance to Straub, where he later died.

Detectives with the department's criminal investigation division and internal affairs division also are looking into the incident.

Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com and Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.