A 51-year-old man died Sunday after becoming ill while in custody at a Brooklyn holding facility, according to the NYPD.
Hector Sierra was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Hospital-Cobble Hill after police requested emergency medical services for him at Brooklyn Central Booking on Schermerhorn Street around 11 a.m., police said.
Officers called EMS for a sick prisoner, and Sierra was taken to the hospital, where he later died, according to police. The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is investigating.
Police said Sierra had been arrested Saturday night near the N and W station at 18th Avenue and 64th Street in Bensonhurst. He was initially stopped for alleged fare evasion, and later charged with offenses including criminal possession of stolen property, tampering with physical evidence and drug possession, according to court records.
Authorities said Sierra showed signs of drug withdrawal while awaiting arraignment and declined medical attention, citing body-worn camera footage. The footage has not yet been released.
On Sunday morning, officers found him in his cell vomiting and called EMS, police said.
Details about the circumstances leading up to his death, including the cause and whether he received medical care while in custody, were not immediately clear.
Sierra had not yet been assigned an attorney, according to court records.
Sierra is at least the fifth person to die this year while in NYPD or city correctional custody. His death is the latest in a series of in-custody deaths in New York City this year.
A 33-year-old woman died earlier this month while being held at Brooklyn Central Booking after experiencing withdrawal symptoms, according to police.
In March, a 51-year-old man died while in custody at Manhattan Central Booking after suffering seizures, according to police and court records. Another man died after a medical episode at Rikers Island and a fourth died after being transferred from the jail to a hospital.
