Cause of death uncertain; family says officers used excessive force.
Raul Pinet Jr. died Friday while in custody at the Onondaga County Justice Center jail.Syracuse, NY -- Relatives of a Syracuse man who died Friday while being booked into the Justice Center Jail said city police officers beat him during the arrest that preceded his death.
But Raul Pinet Jr. struggled with jail deputies almost every moment from the time city police brought him to the jail until deputies discovered he had lost consciousness, said Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh, whose office oversees the jail.
Pinet, 31, of Syracuse, became unconscious in a special holding room shortly after 9 p.m., 15 to 20 minutes after he arrived at the jail. Deputies had left him lying on the floor after removing restraints in which they had carried him into the room and after cutting away his clothing, Walsh said.
When deputies realized after four or five minutes of constant observation that Pinet hadn’t moved, they entered the room, hooked him to a defibrillator, started cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the shock machine’s recommendation and called an ambulance. Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler called Walsh from Upstate University Hospital after 10 p.m. to tell him Pinet had died, the sheriff said.
The police department and sheriff’s office are conducting a joint investigation into Pinet’s death, officials said Saturday. The police are to look into everything that happened from their original call to Shonnard Street, where they took Pinet into custody, until he arrived at the jail. The sheriff’s office will examine what happened from his arrival until his death, Walsh said.
Raul Pinet Jr. was photographed in the Onondaga County Justice Center jail in February 2002 for a news story about a separate housing unit for inmates battling alcohol and drug abuse.The state Commission of Correction, which examines inmate deaths, was notified Friday night and will conduct an independent investigation, Walsh said.
An autopsy also is to be conducted. Walsh said it might be 10 days to two weeks before toxicology reports come back that would complete that exam.
Sgt. Gary Bulinski, speaking for Syracuse police, said Pinet was being charged with criminal trespass and resisting arrest following an incident on the 300 block of Shonnard Street. Bulinski could offer no details about the circumstances.
Pinet’s father, Raul Pinet Sr., his sister, Luz Pinet, and other family members said Pinet was not trespassing at 305 Shonnard St., where he was arrested. Pinet had been given refuge at the house, the home of a cousin’s girlfriend, to avoid people he said were trying to jump him and had asked his protectors to call police, they said.
Raul Pinet Sr. said he has since heard from a friend that his son had been drinking at a house up the street and that he ran when a person he believed was an undercover cop came to the door. Other family members said Pinet Jr. was acting paranoid and may have been high on drugs.
When police arrived at 305 Shonnard, they sought to arrest him. Pinet, who had been released from prison a month ago, yelled that he did not want to go back to jail. In a struggle, the relatives said, an officer struck Pinet in the ribs and knocked him to the ground.
Luz Pinet said that when she arrived at the house, her brother — whom Walsh said was 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighed 230 pounds — was being pinned on the ground face down by several officers. He was bleeding from the mouth, had a bump under his eye and was yelling that he could not breathe, she said. He was taken from the scene in a police van, she said.
Bulinski said department officials will not comment on the family’s depiction of events until the investigation is complete.
Walsh, who said he reviewed all video available of the jail’s handling of Pinet, said Pinet refused to leave the van when it arrived at the jail.
Members of the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team were summoned to carry him out, Walsh said. It looked like they might not be needed after Lt. Jim Barrella talked Pinet into exiting the van. Pinet took a couple of steps, then dropped to the ground, kicking and resisting the officers, Walsh said.
The SERT officers put Pinet in a restraint system with straps around his shoulders, waist and legs, and carried him into the rubberized holding room, Walsh said. A nurse checked his condition and noted a few abrasions, but no other injuries or circumstances that might raise a red flag, he said.
Deputies removed the restraining belts and, holding Pinet by his arms and legs, cut off his clothes, following jail procedure. They left the room but kept him under constant watch, he said.
“He was flat on the floor when the deputies left the room and he didn’t move from the point the deputies backed out of the room,” Walsh said. He was not handcuffed or restrained and was lying on his stomach.
“Obviously we will review all the procedures, but everything seemed to be very much by the book,” Walsh said. “It was a tragic loss but unfortunately, people die. I don’t know what the autopsy is going to reveal.”
Pinet was released on parole June 29 from Wyoming Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison, where he had served nine months of an 18-month sentence for attempted sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, according to the New York State Department of Correctional Services website.
Pinet previously was sentenced to two to six years at the same prison, and was released on parole in 2005.