Inmate dies in Pinellas jail

The man was unresponsive after scuffling with deputies. A routine investigation has been started.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 12, 2003

LARGO -- An inmate at the Pinellas County Jail died Tuesday morning shortly after the man struggled with deputies as they moved him from one cell to another.

Larry D. Germonprez, 41, was pronounced dead at Northside Hospital at 7:10 a.m., about a half-hour after he began struggling with deputies.

Florida Highway Patrol troopers had arrested Germonprez, who is from Zephyrhills, on Friday night on charges of drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident, marijuana possession and driving with a suspended license. He was being held at the jail in lieu of $1,400 bail, records show.

Germonprez was placed in the general jail population, but he became loud, combative and apparently stripped off his clothes Tuesday morning, said Detective Tim Goodman, a sheriff's spokesman. Deputies moved him to the jail's medical wing for evaluation.

Once in the medical wing, the man continued to be loud and banged on the walls of a cell with a metal door, Goodman said.

About 6:40 a.m., staff members decided to move Germonprez to a cell with bars so deputies could keep an eye on him. A response team of deputies, who wear padded suits and splash shields over their eyes, was called in to restrain and move the man, Goodman said.

That team is trained to move inmates who are resisting deputies, he said. Germonprez was combative with response team deputies as they tried to move him Tuesday morning, Goodman said.

After deputies got him to the second cell, they noticed he was unresponsive. Deputies summoned nurses and called 911, Goodman said.

Homicide detectives were investigating the man's death Tuesday. The process is routine for deaths that occur at the jail. Goodman said a detective spent the day interviewing corrections deputies and staff members.

Goodman said sheriff's officials don't know how the man died, though an autopsy will be performed.

Germonprez's family wants a full investigation.

"We're very curious to know what happened," said Jennifer Germonprez of Englewood, his ex-wife and mother of his two children. "His mother just called me from Indiana. She's very upset."

Germonprez had been arrested twice before in Florida in the past five years on charges of aggravated battery and failing to return a rental car, but the charges were dropped each time, records show.

-- Times staff writer Mike Brassfield contributed to this report. Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com .

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