Marine vet Nathan Hoang died in Hayward police custody after being sedated with midazolam during a mental health crisis. His case, disclosed 6 weeks later, raises concerns over sedative use and police response to psychiatric emergencies.
According to Bay Area News Group, Nathan Hoang, a 41-year-old Marine Corps veteran and father of six from Hayward, died in police custody in March, nine days after a paramedic injected him with midazolam—a controversial sedative linked to several in-custody deaths across the country. The incident, which remained unreported by police for six weeks, began when Hoang—suffering from a mental health episode possibly exacerbated by methamphetamine use—mistakenly broke into a home on Virginia Street, believing his children were in danger. Officers responded, tased and handcuffed him, and placed him on a gurney, after which the paramedic administered the sedative. Minutes later, Hoang became unresponsive and was declared brain dead.
Hoang, who served two combat tours in Iraq and suffered from PTSD, had long struggled with mental health issues. His ex-wife, Cynthia Fernandez, emphasized that Hoang was a devoted father and a kind-hearted person who experienced psychotic episodes where he believed his family was in danger. She believes he was in one of those episodes the morning of his arrest, searching for his children…