Prisoner’s Death in Police Jail Cell Is Ruled a Suicide

OXNARD — A 55-year-old drunken man who was taken into custody at a relative’s request died in his cell early Tuesday after stuffing his shirt down his throat, police said.

Pedro Martinez Gonzalez was pronounced dead at 5:16 a.m. in the Police Department’s booking cell, said Deputy County Coroner James Baroni.

Gonzalez had stuffed part of his shirt and pieces of his shirt sleeve down his throat, Baroni said. He ruled the suffocation death a suicide.

“Gonzalez was an alcoholic, and having delusions when police arrived,” Baroni said. “This is based on an investigation--he was making statements that were not true to family members before he was picked up.”

Officers arrested Gonzalez shortly before 1 a.m., when his sister-in-law, who lives in the 2000 block of J Street, called police, said David Keith, a Police Department spokesman.

“He was arrested for being drunk in public,” Keith said. Police put Gonzalez into a booking cell, where an officer checked on him periodically, Keith said.

According to department guidelines, police personnel should check on booking cell occupants every 30 minutes, said Assistant Chief Tom Cady.

Police said that Gonzalez, who was alone in his cell and had no contact with other prisoners while in custody, was last seen alive at about 4 a.m.

Police found Gonzalez dead at 5:05 a.m. and called paramedics. But they were unable to revive Gonzalez.

An investigation of Gonzalez’s death is continuing, police said. Coroner’s officials said that toxicology tests will also be conducted, but that results will not be available for several weeks.

His death comes almost nine months after Luther Thomas Allen died in police custody. Allen, who suffered multiple chest injuries following a traffic accident, died Oct. 1 in Oxnard City Jail.