Post by WaTcHeR on Nov 20, 2006 13:18:32 GMT -5
11.20.2006 - WATAUGA -- Arno Estrada may never know how he got eight miles away from his home in the early hours of Oct. 18.
The Grapevine man was found by police asleep on the ground in front of a convenience store and arrested on suspicion of public intoxication. After being in jail for about 18 hours, Estrada had fallen into a diabetic coma and was taken to the hospital. Estrada, 50, who has been in and out of treatment since, was back in the hospital Friday.
Police didn't know that Estrada was diabetic because he did not know. And although Watauga police are trained to see the signs, drunkenness and diabetic shock are often confused. Symptoms can include slurred speech, glassy eyes and incoherence, said Bruce Ure, director of the Watauga Department of Public Safety.
Watauga police still believe that Estrada was intoxicated, and that the effects were magnified by his high blood sugar, Ure said.
Estrada's son, Kris Estrada, said his father was not drunk. Arno Estrada had a liver transplant a few years back, making it dangerous for him to drink, his son said.
Kris Estrada also wonders why it took so long for officers to realize that Arno Estrada was sick and is frustrated by officers' reluctance to give him details on what happened at the jail.
"The weird thing is that everybody has different timelines on how everything happened," Kris Estrada said. "I don't know when he was taken to the hospital or anything."
According to police reports, a North Richland Hills police officer first noticed Estrada about 3:45 a.m. standing in front of a convenience store in the 6700 block of Rufe Snow Drive. When the officer saw him lying on the ground an hour later, he notified Watauga officer Trevor Litzermann.
Litzermann identified Estrada from his driver's license. "Estrada was unsteady on his feet and had to lean against a trash can to keep from falling over," Litzermann wrote in his report. At one point, Litzermann and the North Richland Hills officer had to catch Estrada before he fell over, Litzermann wrote.
Estrada told the officer he thought he was in Irving and that he had drunk 1 1/2 beers about an hour earlier. Litzermann smelled alcohol on Estrada's breath, so he handcuffed Estrada and took him to jail, according to the report.
When an officer at the jail asked about his medical history, Estrada made no mention of being a diabetic. Doctors later determined that medication he was taking for his liver brought on the diabetes.
"I was out of it. I don't even remember being taken to the jailhouse," Arno Estrada said Thursday. "They say I was talking and walking, but I don't remember any of it. I just woke up in the hospital."
About nine hours after Estrada was booked into jail, a judge reviewed his file and said he could go free on a personal recognizance bond, Ure said. Officers would have called someone to pick up Estrada, but he couldn't remember any phone numbers, Ure said. A brief background check for relatives' numbers was unsuccessful.
Officers eventually began to notice that Estrada was not sobering up and that he was acting "not right," Ure said. On Oct. 19, nearly 19 hours after Estrada's arrest, he was found lying motionless in his cell and was immediately taken to the hospital, Ure said.
About noon on Oct. 18, Kris Estrada began canvassing the route between his home in Dallas and his dad's house in south Grapevine. Several relatives had planned to meet at his dad's house about noon, and he was not there.
Kris Estrada, who owns a gym in Dallas, found his father's cellphone and medications, but the car was gone. Kris Estrada spent the night of Oct. 18 at his father's house, hoping he would return.
The next morning, he started calling jails and hospitals east of Grapevine. It never occurred to him that his father might have driven west -- neither of them had heard of Watauga, Kris Estrada said.
Kris Estrada filed a missing person report that afternoon with Grapevine police. Officers ran Arno Estrada's name through a jail database and found that he had been booked into the Watauga jail.
The son called the jail and learned that his father was at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Doctors had determined that Arno Estrada was in a diabetic coma, Kris Estrada said. When Arno Estrada woke up the following day, he was very confused, he said.
Estrada's car was found at an auto parts store a few blocks from the convenience store where he had been arrested, Ure said. No one knows how the bumper came to be torn off and a tire shredded, his son said. Empty jugs of water and a carton of orange juice were in the passenger seat, and doctors believe that Estrada may have been succumbing to high blood sugar and trying to rehydrate his body, Kris Estrada said.
Police say that Estrada had "no outward indications" of being diabetic and that they assumed he was drunk. His erratic behavior was not uncommon for someone in jail, Ure said. He said that Estrada's experience was unfortunate and that he has asked jail personnel to watch inmates more closely in the future.
Police do not give inmates blood tests for suspicion of public intoxication, Ure said.
The Watauga department will forward Estrada's medical information to a judge, who will decide whether the charge warrants a conviction.
"We will still go on with the charges," Ure said. "We don't have the authority to drop the charges."
Kris Estrada says he is glad to have his dad back, but hopes police learned a lesson from his father's situation.
"I get why they assumed he was drunk," Kris Estrada said. "But after a certain point you have to realize it wasn't alcohol."
www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/16046078.htm
The Grapevine man was found by police asleep on the ground in front of a convenience store and arrested on suspicion of public intoxication. After being in jail for about 18 hours, Estrada had fallen into a diabetic coma and was taken to the hospital. Estrada, 50, who has been in and out of treatment since, was back in the hospital Friday.
Police didn't know that Estrada was diabetic because he did not know. And although Watauga police are trained to see the signs, drunkenness and diabetic shock are often confused. Symptoms can include slurred speech, glassy eyes and incoherence, said Bruce Ure, director of the Watauga Department of Public Safety.
Watauga police still believe that Estrada was intoxicated, and that the effects were magnified by his high blood sugar, Ure said.
Estrada's son, Kris Estrada, said his father was not drunk. Arno Estrada had a liver transplant a few years back, making it dangerous for him to drink, his son said.
Kris Estrada also wonders why it took so long for officers to realize that Arno Estrada was sick and is frustrated by officers' reluctance to give him details on what happened at the jail.
"The weird thing is that everybody has different timelines on how everything happened," Kris Estrada said. "I don't know when he was taken to the hospital or anything."
According to police reports, a North Richland Hills police officer first noticed Estrada about 3:45 a.m. standing in front of a convenience store in the 6700 block of Rufe Snow Drive. When the officer saw him lying on the ground an hour later, he notified Watauga officer Trevor Litzermann.
Litzermann identified Estrada from his driver's license. "Estrada was unsteady on his feet and had to lean against a trash can to keep from falling over," Litzermann wrote in his report. At one point, Litzermann and the North Richland Hills officer had to catch Estrada before he fell over, Litzermann wrote.
Estrada told the officer he thought he was in Irving and that he had drunk 1 1/2 beers about an hour earlier. Litzermann smelled alcohol on Estrada's breath, so he handcuffed Estrada and took him to jail, according to the report.
When an officer at the jail asked about his medical history, Estrada made no mention of being a diabetic. Doctors later determined that medication he was taking for his liver brought on the diabetes.
"I was out of it. I don't even remember being taken to the jailhouse," Arno Estrada said Thursday. "They say I was talking and walking, but I don't remember any of it. I just woke up in the hospital."
About nine hours after Estrada was booked into jail, a judge reviewed his file and said he could go free on a personal recognizance bond, Ure said. Officers would have called someone to pick up Estrada, but he couldn't remember any phone numbers, Ure said. A brief background check for relatives' numbers was unsuccessful.
Officers eventually began to notice that Estrada was not sobering up and that he was acting "not right," Ure said. On Oct. 19, nearly 19 hours after Estrada's arrest, he was found lying motionless in his cell and was immediately taken to the hospital, Ure said.
About noon on Oct. 18, Kris Estrada began canvassing the route between his home in Dallas and his dad's house in south Grapevine. Several relatives had planned to meet at his dad's house about noon, and he was not there.
Kris Estrada, who owns a gym in Dallas, found his father's cellphone and medications, but the car was gone. Kris Estrada spent the night of Oct. 18 at his father's house, hoping he would return.
The next morning, he started calling jails and hospitals east of Grapevine. It never occurred to him that his father might have driven west -- neither of them had heard of Watauga, Kris Estrada said.
Kris Estrada filed a missing person report that afternoon with Grapevine police. Officers ran Arno Estrada's name through a jail database and found that he had been booked into the Watauga jail.
The son called the jail and learned that his father was at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Doctors had determined that Arno Estrada was in a diabetic coma, Kris Estrada said. When Arno Estrada woke up the following day, he was very confused, he said.
Estrada's car was found at an auto parts store a few blocks from the convenience store where he had been arrested, Ure said. No one knows how the bumper came to be torn off and a tire shredded, his son said. Empty jugs of water and a carton of orange juice were in the passenger seat, and doctors believe that Estrada may have been succumbing to high blood sugar and trying to rehydrate his body, Kris Estrada said.
Police say that Estrada had "no outward indications" of being diabetic and that they assumed he was drunk. His erratic behavior was not uncommon for someone in jail, Ure said. He said that Estrada's experience was unfortunate and that he has asked jail personnel to watch inmates more closely in the future.
Police do not give inmates blood tests for suspicion of public intoxication, Ure said.
The Watauga department will forward Estrada's medical information to a judge, who will decide whether the charge warrants a conviction.
"We will still go on with the charges," Ure said. "We don't have the authority to drop the charges."
Kris Estrada says he is glad to have his dad back, but hopes police learned a lesson from his father's situation.
"I get why they assumed he was drunk," Kris Estrada said. "But after a certain point you have to realize it wasn't alcohol."
www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/16046078.htm
