Pa. Deputies Disciplined in Attempted Suicide

The three deputy sheriffs who were on duty when a prisoner tried to commit suicide Oct. 9 while he was in a holding cell at the Lackawanna County Courthouse have been disciplined by Sheriff John Szymanski.

"There's going to be suspensions and I'm not going to single out anyone," said Mr. Szymanski, who did not identify the deputies.

Those suspensions begin today, said Mr. Szymanski, who did not say for how long the deputies would be suspended.

The sheriff said the lesson to be learned from what happened that day is "you have to babysit them," he said referring to prisoners.

Deputy sheriff Turique Patrick, who is president of the deputy sheriffs' union, said the deputies maintained "care, custody and control" of Michael Vazquez Arroyo that day but added, "We need to change."

He said the deputies who were involved are "professional, good guys."

Mr. Arroyo ripped up his T-shirt, twisted it into a makeshift noose and tried to hang himself from a partition near his toilet at the processing center in the courthouse that day.

Mr. Szymanski said the deputies "were just occupied with something else and kind of ignoring him."

"There was some lackadaisical conduct," the sheriff said.

Copyright 2011 - The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service