Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the state Commission of Correction found the Greene County Sheriff's Office violated state law and its own policies, thereby contributing to the death of Matthew Leombruno of Coxsackie in April 2018, when he was incarcerated at the county jail in Catskill. A 2019 report found that jail officials could have prevented Leombruno's death at the now-shuttered facility located on Bridge Street in the village. During the past 12 years, the Sheriff's Office has recorded four suicides and one overdose; two of the deaths remain under investigation. Four suicides, with two under state investigation, and one overdose death in 12 years outpaces the rate found in similar-sized jails statewide. In the Leombruno case, the commission cited several failures in the jail administrators’ response to warning signs that he would harm himself, according to the report. Corrections officers found Leombruno, 43, hanging from a bedsheet tied to the bars of his jail cell at approximately 11:30 p.m. on April 12, 2018, and he succumbed to his injuries at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson two days later. The state Medical Review Board eventually determined that jail administration violated state corrections law by failing to keep Leombruno safe. Staff both failed to recognize the man’s “serious suicidal ideation,” and failed to take proper safety precautions, including placing him on constant watch, which could have prevented his death, according to the report. Corrections Sgt. Christopher Statham did nothing even after receiving a phone call from a family member warning that Leombruno might harm himself, according to the report. He also failed to identify the risk factors present and did nothing after listening to several statements of suicidal intent in recorded phone calls between Leombruno and his daughter. Statham was hired in 2012 and remains employed by the county Sheriff's Office. In early 2019, Leombruno’s family filed a $35 million civil lawsuit in federal court naming Greene County and unnamed county corrections officers as defendants, alleging negligence and wrongful death. The case is currently in the early stages of discovery. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.