Investigation set in death of man in cops' custody

[Guest guest]

Web Posted: 08/08/2008 12:00 CDT

Investigation set in death of man in cops' custody

Crowe - Express-News

San Fire Department leaders said they are reviewing an incident in which

a man in police custody died late Wednesday after waiting for an ambulance.

The man, Osvaldo " " Barrera, was pronounced dead at 9:32 p.m., more than

an hour after police officers encountered him while responding to a disturbance

at the man's apartment complex. According to a police report of the incident,

the two officers performed CPR on Barrera while waiting for paramedics to

arrive.

" We continued until we both got tired and then we switched, " one officer wrote

in the report. " We called for EMS again and they did not make the scene still. "

An EMS unit arrived after several phone calls over what seemed like 20 minutes,

police said. Barrera was taken to Wilford Hall Medical Center, where he was

pronounced dead.

" There was probably a miscommunication, obviously, between police and our unit,

but there was a unit dispatched, " Fire Chief Hood said Thursday.

Hood said department leaders were trying to determine how long it took

paramedics to arrive at the scene, in the 100 block of Rustleaf Drive, or why

there might have been a delay.

There might have been confusion about who needed an ambulance, as one had been

dispatched for the man that Barrera allegedly assaulted with a hammer.

Dispatchers, Hood said, might not have understood that a second ambulance was

necessary.

" We had a hard time determining that there were multiple patients, " Hood said.

" It sounds like it was a chaotic scene. "

He said the department would release more information after officials complete

their review.

The fire department came under scrutiny in December after the death of

23-year-old a , who was mistakenly presumed dead and left by

paramedics at the scene of a car crash for hours until a medical examiner's

investigator noticed she was breathing. Those paramedics were disciplined.

Sgt. Gabe Trevino, a police spokesman, said all patrol officers are trained in

first aid and CPR.

" These officers felt they had to do that to save his life, unfortunately, to no

avail, " Trevino said.

According to the police report, Officers Hillard and Reygadas

responded to the scene about 8:30 p.m. Relatives and friends of Barrera, 45,

said he was in a violent rage when he kicked in an apartment door and started

swinging a hammer, striking a man he believed his estranged wife was seeing.

" His wife had just filed for divorce in January, and he was not too happy about

losing her after they were married for more than 20 years, " said Guevara,

Barrera's divorce lawyer, who added the family believes Barrera might have

suffered a heart attack.

At the time of the incident, Barrera had violated a restraining order that his

wife filed last month. Once on the scene, officers handcuffed him without

incident and then placed him in the back of a patrol car, police said.

But soon after, Barrera yelled that his chest was tightening and his air supply

was restricted. Hillard and Reygadas then pulled Barrera from their patrol car

so he could get some fresh air. They called for an ambulance, according to the

report.

As the minutes ticked by, with still no sign of an ambulance, the officers, who

authorities said used no force on Barrera, began performing CPR, police said.