Man Hangs Self in Jail After Church Incident

A 38-year-old transient hanged himself at the Van Nuys jail Monday, three days after he was placed under citizen’s arrest for trespassing at a church, Los Angeles police said.

Gaik Dadoian’s body was found dangling from the cell door bars about 3:30 a.m., his shirt tied around his neck, LAPD Lt. Anthony Alba said. Officers attempted CPR and then rushed him to Valley Presbyterian Hospital, where he died about 30 minutes later.

Alba said Dadoian had trespassed on the grounds of St. Peter’s Armenian Church in Reseda several times in the past weeks, and that the church had recently gotten a restraining order against him.

“He’s very vocal and disturbs the peace there,” he said.

When the Russian-Armenian immigrant turned up on church property Friday, Alba said, a church member placed Dadoian under citizen’s arrest and called police. Dadoian was taken to the Van Nuys jail and held on $250 bail.

“He was boisterous, so we put him in a cell by himself,” Alba said.

Linda Halburian, a volunteer at St. Peter’s Church, said she did not know Dadoian. But, she said, many transients often loiter outside the church and across the street in Louise Park.

“A lot of people hang out around here at night,” said Halburian. “So, it’s hard to say who it might have been. It’s just awful.”

Jailers had no indications that Dadoian was suicidal, but checked him every 30 minutes anyway, Alba said. Ten minutes after the last check, a jailer spotted Dadoian hanging in his cell.

Detectives from the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division are investigating, as is standard in all in-custody deaths.

Ramirez is a Times staff writer and Riccardi a special correspondent.