By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A Venezuelan man who died Sunday when he fell from a local overpass previously had been treated at the hospital and arrested by police after scuffling with hospital security guards.
Del Rio Police Department Senior Officer Dulce Gonzalez said Thursday Del Rio police first encountered Jesus Rivas Romero, 64, a citizen of Venezuela, at 6:22 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4, when they were dispatched to the emergency room at Val Verde Regional Medical Center.
Gonzalez said DRPD Officer David Valdez was dispatched to the hospital, 801 N. Bedell Ave., in reference to an unwanted man on the premises.
“When Officer Valdez arrived, he made contact with an employee who stated the male subject had been discharged by the hospital’s emergency department, but was refusing to leave the premises and was acting aggressively toward the staff,” Gonzalez said.
Valdez went inside and spoke to Rivas Romero, trying to convince him to leave.
Valdez reported he learned Rivas Romero had been dropped off at the hospital by U.S. Border Patrol several hours before.
“Mr. Rivas Romero had been treated and discharged at about 3 p.m. (Saturday), but was allowed to stay on the premises to sleep off medication he had received,” Gonzalez said.
When a hospital security officer attempted to escort Rivas Romero out of the hospital using a wheelchair, Rivas Romero “continued to act aggressively and made physical contact with one of the security guards,” Valdez reported.
Valdez said he arrested Rivas Romero for misdemeanor assault by contact after taking a statement from the security guard, and then transported Rivas Romero to the police station to be processed and booked.
Rivas Romero was released from police custody at 2:47 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5, after he was magistrated on the assault charge, Gonzalez said.
Several hours later, at 6:19 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, officers were dispatched to the South Bedell Overpass over East Ogden Street after witnesses called to say they had seen a man fall from the structure onto the street below.
When officers arrived, they found a man, later identified as Rivas Romero, lying facedown and unresponsive on the pavement in the 1100 block of East Ogden Street. Rivas Romero suffered “severe head trauma,” apparently as a result of the fall, and was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:21 p.m. Sunday by Justice of the Peace Pct. 4 Hilda Lopez.
Gonzalez said statements were taken from several eyewitnesses to Rivas Romero’s fall from the overpass.
She said Rivas Romero’s next-of-kin was notified.
“Detectives were able to locate family members who live in Texas,” Gonzalez said.
The investigation into Rivas Romero’s death is ongoing pending autopsy results.
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