Acting Department of Public Safety spokesman PO2 Jason T. Tarkong told reporters that DPS received a call at about 10:54 a.m. on Dec. 2 reporting a possibly injured person identified as Arthur James Cruz, near Yuco Tire Shop in Chalan Pale Arnold Road, Puerto Rico.
Tarkong said responding Police Officer David Rabauliman discovered Cruz lying on the driver’s seat. Cruz had no pulse and was not breathing.
Rabauliman noticed there was blood around Cruz’s mouth and nose. There was also a pool of blood located on the garage floor next to the driver’s side door of Cruz’s car.
Medics who arrived in the area transported the victim to the Commonwealth Health Center where Cruz was pronounced dead by an attending physician at 11:21 a.m.
Initial investigation disclosed that Cruz was at the hospital at about 6 a.m. that day for a dialysis check up. He left the hospital at about 9 a.m.
He arrived at the Yuco Tire Shop in Puerto Rico where he fixed his tire. A witness noticed Cruz coughing and spitting out blood.
The witness said Cruz refused his offer of assistance and went into his car to lie down on the drivers’ seat.
Later, the witness noticed Cruz vomiting blood and had a friend call 911 to report the emergency.
