The man, identified as Sumetee Trirat, 31, later died in hospital, Capt Wattanathorn Bumrungthin of the Kathu Police reported.
Capt Wattanathorn was notified at 6:30pm on Friday of an incident in which a man started hitting people in front of the SuperCheap store, near the side entrance to the PSU campus on Muang Chaofa Rd.
However, local residents had already restrained Mr Sumetee, Capt Wattanathorn noted in his report.
Mr Sumetee was taken to Dibuk Hospital. However, doctors there later confirmed that Mr Sumetee had gone into shock and had become unconscious, and later died at the facility, he explained.
The cause of death was given as asphyxiation, Capt Wattanathorn added in his report.
From questioning relatives, police were told that Mr Sumetee had been arrested on drug charges several time before.
Officers were also told that Mr Sumetee had suffered a mental illness, though which mental affliction Mr Sumetee suffered from was not defined in the police report.
“We were told that he did not take his medication as part of his drug addiction treatment, so he became unable to control himself,” Capt Wattanathorn wrote in his report.
Relatives did not question the circumstances of Mr Sumtee’s death, but his body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital to reconfirm the cause of death, he noted.