Teen on life support after hanging himself at Broward jail

A Coral Springs teenager jailed on charges of stealing a gun hanged himself at the Broward Main Jail over the weekend, and his parents are not expecting him to survive.

Sonny David Rugani, 17, a junior at Coral Springs High School, is brain dead and on life support, said his father, David Rugani. “He was a good kid,” he said. “He had some issues, but he was a good kid.”

His family is planning to donate his organs.

Details about his suicide attempt were not available Tuesday. Rugani’s father said he was notified Sunday afternoon by the Broward Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail. Rugani was taken to Broward Health Medical Center.

According to police reports, the younger Rugani’s issues brought him into contact with law enforcement on more than one occasion. He was already on probation and wearing an ankle monitor in early June when he was accused of leaving his home, reaching into a neighbor’s parked Mercedes and swiping a backpack that contained a semi-automatic pistol, then returning to his home across the street.

Prosecutors say the law in place at the time forced them to charge Rugani as an adult. A new law giving the Broward State Attorney’s Office more discretion on whether to charge juveniles as adults had not yet taken effect.

Rugani was taken July 12 to the Broward Main Jail, where he was housed with other inmates under 18.

Assistant Broward State Attorney Maria Schneider said Rugani had stolen a gun before, which is why he was on juvenile probation.

According to a police report on the more recent incident, Rugani showed the stolen gun to a friend during a FaceTime video phone call. The neighbor took a screenshot of the weapon. That friend told an adult, who alerted Rugani’s parents.

The parents went to Coral Springs police “because they were in fear that Rugani was going to harm them with the firearm.”

The elder Rugani said Tuesday that his son never threatened him or his wife.

But according to the police report, dated June 1, the younger Rugani told officers he wanted to commit suicide by hanging.

He was committed to a mental health facility for nearly two weeks under the state’s Baker Act before he was taken to the main jail.

It wasn’t until a month later that Rugani learned he would be charged as an adult with grand theft of a firearm, a felony punishable by a maximum of five years in prison.

In late July, Rugani had his juvenile case resolved and likely could have had the new case settled at a future court date, said Schneider, the prosecutor. “The whole idea of having him in custody was to ensure everybody’s safety, including his,” she said. “Tragically, it didn’t work out that way.”

Rugani’s father said Tuesday that he had no issues with the manner in which prosecutors handled the case.

This is not the first time this year that the Sheriff’s Office has contended with serious inmatecare issues.

In June, Broward Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, whose office represents Rugani, asked the Sheriff’s Office to investigate its handling of inmates with health issues. His request came after two inmates died in custody, a third inmate gave birth alone in her cell and a fourth mutilated himself at the jail.

The Sheriff ’s Office determined that the two deaths were not the result of neglect. In the self-mutilation case, the Sheriff’s Office found no employee misconduct. In the child-birth case, two employees of the company that provides inmate health care were fired.

The Sheriff’s Office couldn’t be reached for comment regarding Rugani’s suicide attempt.