Glendale Man Dies in Custody
A Glendale man, taken into custody by Burbank police for public drunkenness, died of a heart attack while being escorted to his cell, authorities said Saturday.
Armando Sarmiento Gil, 37, was arrested late Thursday night at the Hughes Market in the 1000 block of San Fernando Road, said Lt. Robert Giles of the Burbank police. Gil was brought to the jail for detoxification, Giles said.
“While being placed in his cell, he collapsed and officers noted he was having difficulty breathing,” Giles said.
Paramedics transported the man to Thompson Memorial Hospital in Burbank, where he was pronounced dead. Toxicological tests are being conducted to determine the exact cause of death.
Giles said such a death was not unusual. “The most common cause of death in custody results from intoxication or some byproduct of being intoxicated,” Giles said.
Dr. Nagasamudra Ashok, the hospital’s emergency room director and the doctor who examined Gil on Friday, said the man’s death appeared to be consistent with an alcohol-related heart problem.
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