By Joel Marino
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Palm Beach Gardens man hanged himself while in custody at the Broward Main Jail on Tuesday, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
John Hammond, 38, was found by a deputy conducting a security check at about 9 p.m., officials said. Hammond’s cellmate told the deputy what had happened.
The deputy tried to revive Hammond, who was pronounced dead at Broward General Medical Center, authorities said.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Hammond on Oct. 27 in Dania Beach and charged him with grand theft auto, leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage and other traffic-related charges.
Hammond was not in the segment of the jail reserved for inmates considered suicide risks, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said. Officials did not say what Hammond used to hang himself.
Hammond’s is the sixth suicide in a Broward County jail since August 2008. The Sheriff’s Office released its inmate suicide numbers this summer.
In the 12 months before August 2008, the Sheriff’s Office only reported one inmate suicide.
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