Veronica Carmona Peranez Dies in Brownsville Jail
The Brownsville Police Department, in Brownsville, Texas, filed a report regarding the custodial death of Veronica Carmona Peranez. Ms. Peranez was only 32 years old at the time of her death. We provide in this post information obtained from that report, and we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against anyone.
The report indicates that Ms. Peranez made suicidal statements and exhibited mental health problems. The report also indicates that Ms. Peranez, however, did not receive any medical treatment and, likely contrary to reasonable inferences that can be determined from the summary below, did not supposedly exhibit any medical problems.
The summary portion of the report reads in its entirety:
“On June 17, 2021, at approximately 5:44pm, the Brownsville Police Department began receiving multiple calls for service in reference to a reckless driver. The callers described the vehicle the reckless driver was operating as a white Chevy Suburban. The initial calls placed the Suburban in the area of FM 802 Rd. and Coffee Port Rd. near the CVS pharmacy. Some of the callers described the reckless behavior as the vehicle driving against traffic, the driver side door being open while the vehicle was in motion, the vehicle moving at a high rate of speed and the vehicle swerving nearly crashing into vehicles multiple times. As this took place, multiple callers also advised they could see children inside the Suburban. At approximately 5:52pm, a caller advised that a child had exited the Suburban. Shortly thereafter, the Suburban crashed into a fixed object (traffic sign) off Coffee Port Rd. near the H-E-B parking lot located at 2155 Paredes Line Rd. The Suburban then made a wide turn into the H-E-B parking lot, went over the curb, and nearly struck multiple vehicles. After driving recklessly around multiple rows in the parking lot, the Suburban crashed into an unoccupied parked vehicle. After striking the unattended vehicle, the Suburban proceeded to go around the parking area one more time, nearly striking multiple pedestrians, before exiting the parking area on Paredes Line Rd. As per the callers, they could still see another child inside the vehicle. The Suburban now traveled south on Paredes Line Rd. towards Price Rd. Once at the intersection of Paredes Line Rd. and Price Rd., the Suburban turned eastbound on Price Rd. towards Homer Hanna High School. The Suburban then made a wide right turn into the BISD Police Department parking lot (2477 E. Price Rd.), went over the curb, and nearly struck multiple parked vehicles. The Suburban drove around the parking lot erratically at least twice, before exiting the parking lot area and making a right hand turn onto Price Rd. nearly striking a motorcyclist. The Suburban now traveled westbound on Price Rd. towards Paredes Line Rd. Once at the intersection of CDR Reports :: Page 3 of 3 Price Rd. and Paredes Line Rd., the Suburban turned left onto Paredes Line Rd. and traveled southbound towards Boca Chica Blvd. At the intersection of Paredes Line Rd. and Boca Chica Blvd. (on Paredes Line Rd. itself), the Suburban crashed into a vehicle stopped at the traffic light. After striking the vehicle, the second child passenger exited the vehicle at approximately 6:01pm. The Suburban then continued to travel southbound on Paredes Line Rd. and approached the intersection with of N. Frontage Rd. Once there, the Suburban made a right turn and proceeded to enter the expressway and traveled northbound. At approximately 6:05pm the Suburban exited the expressway on the Price Rd. off ramp and crashed into multiple fixed objects to include the S&F apartment complex (420 N. Frontage Rd.). At approximately 6:07pm, police arrived on scene. Officer Jesus Olvera and Officer Pedro Dominguez made contact with the driver as she stood on N. Frontage Rd. The driver was later identified as Veronica Carmona Peranez. As the officers attempted to arrest Mrs. Peranez, she resisted arrest by temporarily refusing to put her hands behind her back. After securing handcuffs on Mrs. Peranez, she began to actively resist again and attempted to get away from Officer Olvera’s grasp by swinging her arms and pulling away. At that point Mrs. Peranez was escorted to the ground. Officer Dominguez then assisted Officer Olvera in getting Mrs. Peranez back on her feet and escorting her near the backseat of his police vehicle. Once there, Mrs. Peranez temporarily sat down on the edge of the seat and then resisted transport by getting up on her feet and attempting to leave. Officer Dominguez was able to grab Mrs. Peranez by the arms and struggled in placing Mrs. Peranez back inside the backseat. While Mrs. Peranez continued to show resistance, both officers were eventually able to place her inside the backseat. At approximately 6:09pm, Mrs. Peranez was transported to city jail (600 E. Jackson St.). Mrs. Peranez actively resisted transport prior to arriving at city jail by banging her head at least twice on the police car partition panel. At approximately 6:13pm, Officer Olvera arrived at city jail with Mrs. Peranez. At approximately 6:20pm, Mrs. Peranez was placed inside a single padded cell. She was subsequently booked in for multiple criminal charges. At approximately 10:02pm, Mrs. Peranez was found unresponsive inside her single padded cell. Brownsville Fire/EMS was requested and they responded to the scene. At approximately 10:17pm, Mrs. Peranez was declared deceased at the city jail. The Texas Rangers were notified of the custodial death and are investigating the case. An autopsy report is still pending to determine the medical cause of death.”
It is surprising, when reading the summary, that officers apparently did not obtain any medical treatment for Ms. Peranez after her arrest but before she was found unresponsive hours later. If in fact officers did obtain medical treatment for Ms. Peranez, one would assume it would have been indicated in the summary portion of the report.
City jails are not appropriate to house prisoners for a lengthy period of time. Generally, Texas city jails do not have licensed jailers. Regardless, the summary portion of the report does not indicate that, from 6:20 p.m. until 10:02 p.m. on the date Ms. Peranez was incarcerated, that there were any cell checks. If there were any such cell checks, one would assume that they would have been listed in the summary portion of the report.
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards governs county jails in Texas. It requires cell checks at least hourly for a typical inmate. It also requires cell checks at least every 30 minutes for persons who exhibit bizarre behavior and/or are suicidal.
The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides rights to pre-trial detainees, such as Ms. Peranez, to receive reasonable medical care and mental health care. It also provides that such persons are to be protected from themselves and others while they are in custody. If a jail, jailers, and/or police officers violate such a person’s rights, and the person dies as a result, there might be claims available to certain surviving family members. Such claims are typically filed in federal court. Once again, we make no allegation of any wrongdoing against any individuals related to Ms. Peranez’s death. We are simply providing information regarding what occurred, and claims that are potentially available in certain situations.
Dean Malone
Dean Malone