A man arrested on charges of smuggling illegal immigrants died in Border Patrol custody last week after hanging himself in his cell, authorities said Wednesday.
The 43-year-old U.S. citizen, whose name wasn’t released, used his own jacket as a noose, tying one end to a partition in his cell and wrapping the other end around his neck.
Authorities said the video recording system was “not fully functioning” at the time of the incident, though agents’ body cameras captured their interactions.
The man was arrested after agents say they caught him Saturday while driving through a highway checkpoint north of Laredo, Texas, in a semi truck with seven illegal immigrants hidden in the cab.
They put him in a cell by himself just before 7 p.m., after taking the drawstring from his pants and jacket “for his own safety.” After several interactions, agents went to check on him at 10:39 p.m. and found him hanging off the floor.
An hour’s worth of attempts to revive him by agents, emergency response and a local hospital proved futile.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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