Lake County Inmate Dead After "Take-Down" By Guards

By Chris Bentley in News on Mar 8, 2012 3:00PM

Eugene Gruber died Saturday in a rehabilitation hospital — the last in a series of medical facilities he visited following an allegedly lethal encounter with guards at Lake County Jail four months ago.

Security video footage shows the 51-year-old walked into jail, where guards patted him down and took him away. In an area of the prison not covered by security cameras, guards later performed a neck-twisting “take-down” maneuver on Gruber, who was drunk and uncooperative when he entered jail Oct. 31.

Guards’ reports from that day said they pepper-sprayed Gruber because he threatened officers with violence, but they did not make note of the take-down that may have caused the inmate’s spinal injuries. That’s according to documents from a criminal investigation by the Lake County state’s attorney, which the Tribune found led to the firing of at least one jail nurse.

Gruber’s case is not the only unusual inmate death of late at Lake County Jail. Inmate Lyvita Gomes died Jan. 3 after a 15-day hunger strike. Gomes failed to answer a jury summons —which, as an Indian citizen, she was not eligible for — and was later charged with resisting arrest. She died of dehydration and malnutrition in a Waukegan medical center less than a month after she was incarcerated.

Gruber’s cousin, a former Elgin police chief, told Tribune reporter Lisa Black he believes Eugene was murdered in Lake County Jail.
Chief of special investigations for the state’s attorney’s office Christen Bishop said they found no evidence of intentional harm. No charges resulted from the investigation, which was closed before Gruber’s death. Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said officials will review prison its policies.