Breaking News: Phoenix Woman May Have Accidentally Killed Herself In Jail
Colorado Springs – A woman who died in a Phoenix jail holding cell may have accidentally killed herself trying to remove her handcuffs, reports are indicating. Carol Ann Gotbaum – who was flying to Tucson – was arrested at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport after being removed from a plane prior to it’s departure time. Gotbaum’s husband, Noah, called the airport and told personnel there that his wife was “suicidal,” and may why Noah requested his wife’s removal from the plane.
As authorities tried escorting Carol Ann from the airport, she began screaming – according to several witnesses, including a federal police officer – that she was not a terrorist and at one point, threw her PDA at an airline attendant. She later died in a holding cell, the apparent result of her trying to maneuver her body in an attempt to free herself from handcuffs.
Mrs. Gotbaum was handcuffed with her hands behind her back, and additionally those handcuffs were attached to a shackle that kept her attached to the bench. Initial information … indicated that Mrs. Gotbaum had somehow worked the handcuffs to the front of her body, probably from under her legs, and had pulled the chain from the shackle across her neck area …
Carol Ann Gotbaum may have been under the influence of alcohol as well, which may have been a precursor to her removal from the plane and subsequent arrest. An investigation is still underway.
Gotbaum was 45.
Read the rest of the story here.
Paotie
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I watched the surveillance video several times to see if law enforcement was too rough. No, they weren’t. She put up a struggle the entire time. You don’t mess with LEO’s. You cooperate.
I haven’t seen it yet, but from what I’ve read, it seemed like she got herself worked up needlessly. I don’t know if she was acting that way because she may be mentally ill or if she just .. “lost” it. I wonder what would compel people to act that way, too – especially if they know the attention is squarely on them, for better or for worse.
Weird, man. A dog would strangle itself if chained and was desperate enough to try and act in that manner. I’m not saying the woman was trying to survive, but I guess she was suicidal, so much so she eventually succeeded.
Anyway, never mess with them LEO’s. Ever.
Feel bad for everybody involved.
Oh well .. time to go skateboarding.
Paotie
To many pieces don’t fit here. If she was suicidal why was she traveling alone. Was she having chemical withdrawl symptoms? drug interaction problems? How could she get that drunk 30 to 40 minutes before boarding a plane. Drug interaction problems. Did the cops ask her where she was going and why? Did they try at all to figure out why this women was so upset. What did they ask her. Part of defusing a situation is finding out why the person is so upset. Why won’t police give complete access to the body for the family’s coroner. The airline would not let a boarded passenger give up his seat for her because they say it was a security breach!! LIERS!!! Airlines ask boarded passengers to give up seats all the time!! It’s not a breach then. Why would she literally be a confirmed ticketed passenger one minute and a securty breach the next. We don’t know what the cop said to her when he reached for her. Maybe he told her he was going to cuff her which is why she pulled back. It would certainly have escalated her emotions. It doesn’t look to me like security tried that hard to defuse this situation. I’ve talked to some medical professionals, including one doctor I heard on CNN and they all say that it would take longer then 15 minutes for someone to strangle themselves intentionally or otherwise. NOPE, to many pieces don’t fit. Security could have handled this better, but then of course the airline could have practiced something called customer service and let the passenger give up his seat , then again if she was that emotionally unstable her family should not have let her travel alone.
Lynn ..
Thank you for your well-thought out points!
It’s true – we can’t all be expected to understand every human being’s conditions or “issues” or medical problems or whatever else there is to know about strangers. I tend to agree with Stacy and you that the security guards were a bit harsh in handling her, but that’s not an excuse to try and kill yourself in a prison holding cell.
But, again .. the extremes people will go to sometimes .. is amazing, isn’t it?
Thank you for a great post!
Paotie