MA- Inmate in court lockup slashes wrists

When someone does something this extreme, if over a failure to register charge, there is much more going on which we do not know of. Hopefully they can get a psych exam and uncover what it is and get him help he obviously needs.

12-13-2008 Massachusetts:

SALEM — A Lawrence man in custody on charges that he repeatedly failed to register as a sex offender slashed his wrists in a holding cell at Salem Superior Court yesterday morning.

It remains unclear how Nelson Serrano, 30, got the small blade he apparently used to injure himself.

Paul Fleming, a spokesman for Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins, said jail officials are investigating. They did not discover any blade during a pat-down after Serrano changed clothing at Middleton Jail to be brought to court.

Serrano, whose arms were bandaged from his hands to his elbows, was led from an elevator on foot, then placed on a stretcher to be taken to Salem Hospital at around 9:30 a.m.

Serrano stared downward as he and a court officer waited for an ambulance crew to bring the stretcher inside the courthouse.

He remained at the hospital, under guard, as of late yesterday afternoon, Fleming confirmed.

Serrano was due in court for a hearing on motions for discovery in his cases. His attorney filed a request for funds for a psychological evaluation of Serrano, something that she had already prepared before Serrano's apparent suicide try yesterday. ..News Source.. by Julie Manganis, Staff writer