State police investigating death of man in Forest Park lockup

The death of a 42-year-old Bellwood man in a jail cell in west suburban Forest Park is being investigated as a suicide, authorities said.

Officers checked on Roy C. Rieves Jr. at 5:46 p.m. Oct. 15 in his cell at the Forest Park Police Department at 517 Desplaines Avenue, according to Forest Park Police Chief Tom Aftanas and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Rieves was taken to Oak Park Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m., the medical examiner’s office said. Autopsy results were pending further investigation.

Roy C. Rieves Sr. said officers came to his Broadview home that night about 9 p.m. to tell him that his son had hung himself in his cell.

“I just want to know how it happened without them seeing it,” Rieves Sr. said. “He was supposed to be watched.”

Rieves’ death was being investigated as an apparent suicide by Illinois State Police, Aftanas said.

A representative for Illinois State Police confirmed they were conducting an investigation, but declined to provide information.

Rieves was arrested at 5:08 a.m. in the 900 block of Marengo in Forest Park, Aftanas said. An officer saw Rieves push a woman onto a couch when they responded to a domestic battery call, and he resisted arrest.

He was waiting to be taken to a bond hearing when he would found in his cell.

“Any death is tragic and I feel for his family,” Aftanas said.