FILE – The city’s Medical Examiner’s office wheels out a body in Brooklyn.
Photo by Dean Moses
An alleged fare evader being held at Brooklyn Central Booking died after suffering a medical emergency Sunday, becoming the second incarcerated individual at the facility to die in custody in a week.
According to police sources, 51-year-old Hector Sierra grew ill while being detained at Central Booking, located at 120 Schermerhorn St., on April 19, resulting in staff there calling for an ambulance around 11 a.m. EMS rushed Sierra to NYU Langone Cobble Hill Hospital, where he later died.
Sources with direct knowledge of the incident reported that Sierra was arrested on Saturday after evading the fare at the 18th Avenue subway station on the N line in Bensonhurst by entering through the emergency gate. When cops stopped him, they found him to be in possession of a controlled substance.
Sierra arrived at Central Booking just after midnight and remained there without incident until the following morning, when he began vomiting, sources reported.
Paramedics rushed him to NYU Langone Health-Cobble Hill at around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. At about 11:45 a.m., sources said, Sierra began vomiting once more when he went into cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
The exact cause of death has yet to be determined.
Sierra’s death came a week after another Central Booking detainee fell ill and died while in custody on April 12.
Thirty-three-year-old Zamiqua Miller was found unconscious and unresponsive while being held for booking at 120 Schermerhorn St. Sources close to the investigation told amNewYork that Miller had been arrested on Friday, Feb. 10, on charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. She had been hospitalized twice prior to her death.
The investigation into Sierra’s death remains ongoing, police sources said.