Garner Inmate Dies At Garner, Cause Unknown

By John Voket

State Police are continuing an investigation following the reported untimely death of a Garner Correctional Institution inmate September 12. According to a preliminary release, Geraldo Sanchez, 34 of Union City, N.J., complained to facility personnel about dizziness and difficulty breathing at about 1:40 that afternoon.

According to Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Garnet, medical personnel including a facility doctor or nurse responded and attended to the inmate, who was subsequently monitored but apparently not hospitalized.

The report states that at about 5:43 pm, a corrections officer noted the inmate was not breathing during a routine check, and called for medical assistance. Department of Corrections medical personnel detected a faint pulse and began CPR until Newtown Ambulance volunteers arrived and transported the inmate to Danbury Hospital.

He was pronounced dead at 6:34 pm. According to State Police, the inmate was alone in his cell at the time he was discovered in distress, and no foul play was suspected in his death. The inmate, police said, had had no contact with any other inmate prior to or during his periods of distress.

The body was transferred to the State Medical Examiner for an autopsy to attempt to determine the cause of death. At the time of his death, Mr Sanchez was serving a one-year sentence for burglary in the third degree.

Mr Garnet said both State Police and Department of Corrections security inspectors were continuing separate investigations into the matter.