Community Corner

State Finds Fault With County Jail Over Former Marine Suicide

A state report released said that Bartholomew Ryan was not properly assessed by a doctor for suicide risk, according to Newsday.

A state report recently released said that Bartholomew Ryan, 32, a former Marine who hung himself in was not properly assessed by a doctor for suicide risk, according to an article in Newsday.

"The Board finds this assessment . . . to have been inadequate," read the report released last month by the state Commission of Correction, 13 months after Ryan's Feb. 24, 2012, suicide. It said Ryan, of Seaford, "received inadequate evaluation and treatment by Armor."

The report recommends that the jail's private medical provider, Armor Correctional Health Care, of Miami, train its mental health staff on "the special mental health needs of combat veterans who are incarcerated," according to Newsday.

The report also said that correction officers failed to call an ambulance for several minutes after they discovered Ryan and tried to revive him with a defibrillator, Newsday reports.

According to Nassau County Homicide Squad detectives, Ryan committed suicide on Feb. 24, 2012 by hanging and was found by a correction officer in his cell at approximately 3:30 p.m. He was then transported to Nassau University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 4:20 p.m.

Ryan was detained on misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and excessive speed, according to Newsday. He had only been at the East Meadow-based jail for one day before taking his life.

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Shortly after his death, Ryan's family filed suit against the jail and Nassau County for "personal injuries and wrongful death."

Michael Ganci contributed to this report.

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