SHERIFF'S GUARDS LEAVE MINOR IN HOT VAN FOR AN HOUR

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The mother of a 17-year-old inmate who had been transported by personnel of the Cameron County Sheriffs' Department from Detention Center 1 in downtown Brownsville to Rucker-Carizales Detention Center in Olmito this past Monday is seeking legal representation after deputies forgot about her son and left him handcuffed in a hot van in the jail's parking lot.

According to the National Weather Service, the temperature outside was in the mid-90s, and in the hour it took for jail personnel to locate him could have soared near 170 degrees inside the closed vehicle.

The inmate – whose name is being withheld because he is a minor – told his mother that two transportation officers were transferring him from DC1 to Carrizales. In the transit the officers arrived at Carrizales and got down from the vehicle and forgot he was in the van.

The only reason the sheriff department officers found out about it was because his parole officer was waiting for him at the detention center and – when he din't arrive – notified the jail personnel that his client was late for his meeting.

The parole officer began to ask where he was and the staff called DC1 and were told he wasn't there and had been sent to Carrizales. After jail personnel searched for him, they found him locked in the van, which was turned off, no AC on, locked doors, and the windows all up. 

According to the mother, when the minor was found he was drenched in sweat and on the verge of losing consciousness. He told his mother he was kicking and screaming for help but he was handcuffed the entire time. there was noting he could do to escape the heat.

Already, various broadcast media have contacted the mother wanting to do an interview. She said that the  sheriff's department investigators are looking into the matter.

Prisoner transport has been a headache for various sheriff's administrations, sometimes with dire consequences. During the election campaign against incumbent Lucio, current Sheriff Eric Garza used those cases to convince voters that under him, these incidents wouldn't happen and asked them to vote for him for "the change we need," the "protection we deserve."

On June 2017, – under Lucio – an inmate, identified as 38-year-old, Michael Diaz Garcia, managed to attack a county guard while being transported for medical treatment. 

According to police, Diaz Garcia attacked the county guard, took his firearm and escaped to a nearby area where he went into a home and demanded the keys to a vehicle. The homeowner, identified as 57-year-old, Mario Martinez – tried to calm the inmate, but was fatally shot. 

Garcia killed the man in front of his family and stole his car before he ended up getting killed in San Benito by law enforcement.

Then, on March 2020, transport guards were returning seven inmates to Carrizales from court in Brownsville and took the first five out for reintroduction to the jail and left two young inmates in the van.

According to a message from a witness, the van was turned off, no AC on, the doors were locked, and the windows were all up.

When prisoners are transported, they already have a belly chain (also known as "waist chain," or "Martin chain") which is a physical restraint worn by prisoners consisting of a chain around the waist, to which the prisoner's hands are chained or cuffed. In Cameron County, the ankles are also connected by means of longer chain.

Well, the transport guys apparently took a longer time than they expected with the five prisoners and forgot about the other two in the hot van. On March 11, the high was 86 degrees Fahrenheit, and in a closed van, it was probably higher.

On of the inmates had an anxiety attack and started going into convulsions, the sources said, and the other started to try to kick out the windows of the van. Were it not for the fact that one of the Carrizales corrections officers went outside to have a cigarette and saw the commotion in the van as the two young inmates struggled to escape the closed vehicle, the developing tragedy might not have been averted.

The result? Both inmates were taken to Valley Regional Hospital where one was treated for extreme anxiety and the other was under observation. Both were eventually returned to Carrizales.

We understand that one of the transport officers was terminated and another given a 10-day suspension.

What will Garza do? And will that matter after the fact? And that he excoriated Lucio for the same things - or worse - that are happening on his watch?