By Matthew Spina
Buffalo News
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 26-year-old Buffalo man who attempted suicide in the Erie County Holding Center was hospitalized for two days before his family was notified, his father said Monday.
Robert A. Crowley, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, tried to hang himself in his cell Wednesday using a bedsheet, according to his father, Robert J. Crowley of Amherst.
But the elder Crowley said he first learned Friday from the hospital, not the jail, that his son was in Erie County Medical Center. He said the staff at ECMC obtained his number from records on file from his son’s previous visits to the hospital.
Crowley said jail officials did call him Friday to tell him that his son was hospitalized, but only after he already had received the news. A high-ranking jail official called him Monday to apologize for the delay and to promise a review of what went wrong, Crowley said.
Undersheriff Mark N. Wipperman said he takes seriously the family’s complaint that it was not promptly contacted, “and we are investigating the allegations that have been reported to us to determine if any policies or procedures have been violated.”
The elder Crowley said his son has had problems since suffering a head injury about eight years ago. The younger Crowley has been involved in petty crimes since then, and he was jailed most recently for not paying a taxi fare, Crowley said.
The jail’s report to the State Commission of Correction said Robert A. Crowley was found hanging at 12:42 p.m. Wednesday in a section of the Holding Center not required to be retrofitted under the special court settlement struck between the U.S. Justice Department and Erie County to limit suicides in the jail.
The jail staff indicated in the report that they were aware of Crowley’s mental health history and that for a time they had him on “constant observation” status. But that had ended shortly before the suicide attempt, according to a source inside the Holding Center.
Wipperman said that an inmate told investigators that Crowley — whom Wipperman did not identify by name — was upset that family members had not shown up when he was in court earlier that day and felt that they may have abandoned him.
“Unfortunately, this inmate never reported this to any of our staff prior to the incident,” Wipperman said.
The deputies said in the report that Crowley was able to breathe on his own a couple of hours after reaching ECMC. But his father said his son remained in a medically induced coma until Monday. Hospital officials said Monday night that the younger Crowley was in critical condition.
The U.S. Justice Department focused on suicide prevention as one aspect of its lawsuit against the county to require better conditions at the Holding Center and the county Correctional Facility in Alden.
The settlement, negotiated by County Executive Chris Collins and the federal officials, requires numerous physical improvements to the jail so that bunks and windows, for example, can’t anchor a noose.
The settlement also requires screening of inmates by mental health professionals, and more training for staff to help better recognize at-risk inmates.
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