Sylmar Man Hanged Self in Cell, Police Say

A Sylmar man committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell at the Foothill Division police station in Pacoima on Monday night, Los Angeles police said.

The man, Benjamin Aguilera, 29, had been arrested on suspicion of wife-beating earlier in the day and was taken to the police station, where his body was found shortly after 9 p.m., Officer Willie Wilson said. Aguilera had wrapped his T-shirt around his neck and tied it to bars atop the cell, Wilson said.

Police attempted to revive Aguilera but he was pronounced dead at 9:19 p.m., Wilson said. A routine inspection of the cells, made every 30 minutes, had been completed at 9 p.m., he said.

Wilson said Aguilera was arrested after his wife reported that he had whipped her with a leather strap and had pulled the hair of one of their three children.