Nassau jail inmate's death being probed

State and local authorities are investigating how a Nassau County jail inmate died hours after he complained of illness, went to the infirmary for treatment and got sent back to his dorm unit.

Roy C. Nordstrom, 46, of Floyd Road in Shirley, serving a 75-day sentence for a guilty plea to criminal contempt and assault, was found to be in cardiac arrest shortly after 8 a.m. Saturday, Nassau police said.

Jail officials Monday confirmed Nordstrom died but said the county medical examiner still had to determine the cause. Elizabeth Loconsolo, a jail spokeswoman, declined to discuss his medical care and said the jail was doing a routine investigation.

Nassau police Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said Nordstrom had complained of "not feeling well," was seen in the infirmary and sent back to his housing unit. A preliminary probe suggested he died of a heart attack, he said. Nassau homicide detectives are investigating.

Nordstrom was taken to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow and was pronounced dead at 8:59 a.m., a hospital spokeswoman said.

The death comes less than two weeks after the county switched jail health care providers from NUMC to Armor Correctional Health Services, a private company, entering into a two-year, $11-million-a-year agreement.

The jail's health care has come under scrutiny in recent years by both state and federal authorities looking into inmate deaths and suicides.

A spokeswoman for the state Commission of Correction, which oversees jails and prisons and investigates all custodial deaths, said it had been properly informed of the death and is looking into it.

The victim's brother, Martin Nordstrom, 52, also of Shirley, said his family is shocked. "My question is, how long was he suffering before anybody got to him?" Nordstrom said, sobbing, adding that his brother had no known heart problems.

Suffolk police said Roy Nordstrom was arrested in Patchogue May 31 on a domestic violence charge stemming from a dispute with Martin Nordstrom. He was transferred to Nassau's jail June 9 from Suffolk's because of overcrowding, Loconsolo said.

A Suffolk Seventh Precinct officer informed the family. "They didn't give us any explanation whatsoever," said Nestor Cintron, a cousin. "He said your brother died of a heart attack. Done."