Struthers hire attorney to investigate jail suicide

STRUTHERS

The city has hired an attorney to investigate whether the police department followed proper procedures for checking on inmates in the hours leading up to the Sept. 10 suicide of a man arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct.

Struthers police Capt. Patrick Bundy found Peter Bugno, 43, dead and hanging by the neck from a sheet tied to a vent at about 8:40 a.m., a coroner’s report states. The coroner has since determined hanging to be the cause of death.

Bugno had been in jail for about four hours when he was found dead.

A Struthers police manual stipulates that a staff member must count all prisoners at the beginning of each shift, which is at least three times every 24 hours. A jail officer also is required to conduct “direct in-person surveillance” of each prisoner, in which the officer views each prisoner through the cell door at irregular intervals at least once every hour.

Both checks must be logged, according to the manual.

A coroner’s report, however, indicates that direct in-person surveillance of Bugno did not occur every hour.

Bugno had been arrested along with a 53-year-old man about 4:30 a.m. Sept. 10 near Youngstown-Poland Road on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct while intoxicated. The men were booked about an hour later, according to police. The 53-year-old man was released after posting $100 bond. Bugno remained in jail.

Read more about the case in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.