A 51-year-old man arrested for fare evasion died of apparent drug withdrawal at a Brooklyn hospital Sunday – marking the second police-custody death in a week, cops and sources said.
Hector Sierra, of Bensonhurst – known to have a history of drug use – was busted around 7:50 p.m. Saturday when cops allegedly caught him beating the fare at the 18th Avenue and 64th Street N train station, authorities said.
He was charged with theft of service and criminal possession of stolen property – as well as criminal possession of a controlled substance because police found him with drugs, police said.
About 10 minutes later, cops asked Sierra if he needed medical attention, which he refused, law enforcement sources said.
The officers’ body-worn cameras captured that interaction, according to the sources.
Then around 11 a.m. Sunday, Sierra started vomiting in his cell at Brooklyn Central Booking on Schermerhorn Street near State Street, showing apparent symptoms of drug withdrawal, the sources said.
He was taken by responding EMS workers to NYU Langone Cobble Hill Hospital, arriving at the waiting room around 11:45 a.m., according to the sources.
About an hour later, as he continued waiting to be seen, he vomited again, the sources said.
He was pronounced dead just after 1 p.m.
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is probing the incident, police said.
Sierra has six prior arrests on misdemeanor drug possession charges dating back to 1999, cops said.
Sierra’s death comes a week after Zamiqua Miller, 33 – arrested for drug possession – died at the downtown Brooklyn courthouse after repeatedly suffering withdrawal symptoms that sent her back-and-forth from the hospital, cops and sources said.
At least five people have died on city watch so far this year – with the three others suffering medical episodes in Department of Correction custody on Rikers Island.