Local News in Brief : Woman Found Hanged in Jail

A woman arrested in Gardena apparently hanged herself in her jail cell 12 hours after she was locked up, police said.

The woman, who was arrested late Monday and charged with stopping traffic and resisting arrest, apparently used her dress to hang herself from the bars of the cell, said Lt. Ross Weddle.

The woman, who was 24 years old and a transient, was the only prisoner in the women’s cellblock of the Gardena jail.

The woman had been stopped by police Monday night in the 14500 block of Vermont Avenue near Rosecrans Avenue on suspicion of prostitution, Weddle said. She was charged with stopping and delaying traffic and later with resisting arrest when she refused to give police her name.

She did not appear despondent when police officers did routine prisoner checks every 30 minutes, and was last seen alive during a routine check at 9:51 a.m., Weddle said. She was discovered dead at 10:29 a.m.

The woman died of asphyxiation, said Bob Danbacker, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner’s office. Officials have learned her identity through fingerprint checks, but her name has not been released pending notification of kin.