Bexar inmate kills himself with plastic spoon + Other unexpected Bexar County jail suicides

Updated 08:33 p.m., Wednesday, June 27, 2012

A Bexar County Jail inmate committed suicide in his cell today using a plastic spoon, officials said.

Robert Rodriguez, 29, was found unconscious and bleeding by a guard in the administrative segregation unit around noon, Deputy Chief Ronald Bennett of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said.

“It appears there were self-inflicted wounds from a plastic spoon he had made sharp and used to stab himself,” Bennett said.

Rodriguez was arrested June 9 on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and possession of a controlled substance, and was booked into the jail’s detoxification unit the next day.

At some point since then, Bennett said, he was placed on administrative segregation, or lockdown.

He was not on suicide watch, officials said.

via Bexar inmate kills himself with plastic spoon – San Antonio Express-News.

There have been other unexpected suicides in that particular jail.

Posted on May 21, 2012 at 2:14 PM

Suspect in double murder found dead in Bexar County Jail cell

A suspect in a San Antonio double murder has been found dead said local authorities. They say 36-year-old Corey Hiller took a bed sheet and hanged himself early Monday morning.

Last month Hiller was charged with capital murder in the stabbing deaths of his former girlfriend, 39-year-old Rhonda Hammonds, and her friend, 50-year-old Casey Sweetwood in April 19. … An officer reportedly woke Hiller at around 4 a.m. and started getting him ready for the court appearance.

While making regular rounds 15 minutes later, officers say they found Hiller unresponsive. His bed sheet was tied to the top of a bunk. He was not under a suicide watch. … Bexar County officials say suicide is rare in jail. This is the first case so far this year. In 2011 there were two.

via
http://www.kens5.com/news/Suspect-in-double-murder-found-dead-in-Bexar-County-Jail-152331595.html

 

Leroy Sanchez Jr., 25, died at the Christus Santa Rosa Hospital last Thursday, days after Bexar County Detention Center guards found him hanging from a bed sheet in his cell. Sanchez’s death now sets the Bexar County jail on the uneasy track to surpass last year’s inmate suicide tally. …

So far this year, three Bexar County Detention Center inmates have died in suicide attempts at the jail, the same number of jail suicides in all of 2010. …

A total of four inmates have died at the Bexar County jail this year, including Pamela Anguiano, 25, who died in the jail’s detox unit on July 20.

The frequency of inmate suicides at the Bexar County lockup started to raise eyebrows after 2009, when all six of the jail’s in-custody deaths were ruled suicides, three times the national average. Last year, acknowledging the problem, Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz requested a report from nationally recognized suicide-prevention expert Lindsay Hayes to identify problems and fixes for the jail.

In his report, Hayes called the jail’s suicide prevention system a “misnomer” and remarked, “It would appear that the jail system has an unexplained tolerance for potentially suicidal behavior.”

I’ve heard of guards who think they are doing society a favor by abusing inmates, encouraging them to fight each other and looking the other way as they kill each other. Do guards kill inmates and call it suicide? I haven’t found a documented case of that. If it were to happen, and a prison guard was sent to prison, I can’t imagine that person would survive.

Updated 05:29 p.m., Monday, June 27, 2011

Adrian Rodriguez, 31, was pronounced dead at University Hospital on Saturday. He had been found hanging in a detoxification cell at the jail Thursday, the Bexar County medical examiner’s office said. He died of complications of a hanging; his death was ruled a suicide.

San Antonio police had arrested Rodriguez, who has a lengthy criminal record, on a robbery charge June 21. A screening at the City Magistrate’s office and again at the jail, where he saw a psychologist, found “no indication that he was suicidal,” said Deputy Chief Dale Bennett, a Bexar County Sheriff’s Office spokesman. Medical unit guards found Rodriguez during a routine 30-minute cell check.

While in the hospital, he was given a personal recognizance bond Friday, so “he was technically not in custody,” said Adan Munoz, executive director of Texas Commission on Jail Standards. “We are going to follow up, if there’s anything there, but it’s not being handled as an in-custody death.”

via
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Man-dies-after-attempted-jail-suicide-1442562.php

 

Comment On July 25, 2011 on
http://www.thebexarcountyjail.com/in-the-news/07202011-inmate-death/

When an inmate dies in custody the Sheriff’s Office must submit all documentation relating to that inmate to The Texas Commission on Jail Standards. They, in turn, review the paperwork and decide if procedures were followed. The Medical Examiner’s Office will also generate a report on the autopsy. That’s three different outside agencies involved. Maybe it was something the jail staff did or didn’t do. Maybe it was something the medical staff did or didn’t do. Or maybe everything was done right and it was just something that was going to happen no matter what anyone did….

The jail site lists a number of cases where a jailer, deputy or prison guard was trouble with the law, and a few for excessive force.

April 24, 2012 – 5:57 am – A Bexar County Detention Deputy, Trenton Wade, was arrested for DWI.  Wade was driving the wrong way on 16o4.  He caused a Ranger Rover to roll over when it tried to avoid being hit head on.  Both drivers were alright.

…. January 18, 2012 – 9:53 am  – Detention Officer Corby Hood was arrested for being in possession of rock cocaine.  Hood was pulled over by SAPD for an expired registration sticker.  The SAPD officer noted suspicious behavior and frisked Hood.  A package of rock cocaine was recovered from Hood’s jacket pocket.  Hood has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

…. September 20, 2011 – 5:48 am – Sgt. Robert Morales, assigned to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office’s version of internal affairs, has admitted to illegally running a background check on a woman’s ex-husband.  This charge is a class B misdemeanor.  The District Attorney’s office is not going to prosecute Morales.  Sgt. Morales has been re-assigned to patrol …

…. September 18, 2011 – 5:11 am  – Acting on a tip, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office set up a sting to catch an officer they believed was accepting bribes to bring drugs into the facility.  Jonathan Pommerening accepted the (fake) drugs, with the intention of smuggling them into the jail, in exchange for $300.  Pommerening was arrested before he entered any of [...] …

…. July 27, 2011 – 10:25 am  – Ex-jail guard Alfred Casas was found guilty on two counts of bribery and one count of providing an implement of escape into a jail.  Casas smuggled in a small hacksaw blade inside of a taco.  He accepted two bottles of Xanix as payment.

…. May 13, 2011 – 8:00 am – Deputy Maritza Perez was stopped on Pleasanton Road and arrested for DWI.  Deputy Perez was in the reserve unit with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.  The reserve unit is made up of commissioned peace officers that work in a voluntary, unpaid status.  They are not protected by contract or civil service.

…. May 13, 2011 – 7:52 am – Deputy Juan Pruneda was arrested on a DWI charge.  An unknown disturbance between Pruneda and the bouncer at a bar on Main Street was reported to SAPD.  When City officers arrived Pruneda was already driving off.  Witnesses identified him to the SAPD officers who then pulled him over and arrested him for DWI.

…. April 22, 2011 – 9:16 am  – Ex-Deputy Daniel Melgoza received a 27 month sentence for the beating of an inmate in 2004. Melgoza was charged with deprivation of rights under the color of law for the beating and obstruction of justice for filing a false report. He was found not guilty on two other charges.

….  March 13, 2011 – 4:57 am  – Ex-Deputy Quintero was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts stemming from two separate incidents involving excessive force on an inmate.  Quintero faces charges of deprivation of civil rights under the color of law, a federal offense.

…. February 19, 2011 – 6:20 am  – Ex-deputy Raul Hernandez was found guilty of bribery for taking cash in exchange for fixing a ticket. He never followed through with attempting to get the ticket dismissed but just the fact that he offered to do it in exchange for monetary enrichment is enough to be charged with bribery.

….  January 25, 2011 – 7:20 am  – Deputy Nicole Bratcher is about to be investigated by the FBI for an incident that occurred in 2010. Bratcher, who was a member of the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) at the time, is accused of excessive use of force on the inmate she was escorting. She was fired on October 14th due to this

 

 

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