Jail inmate who died Sunday was accused of sexually assaulting nurse

A McKeesport man who died in Allegheny County Jail on Sunday was accused of sexually assaulting an Allegheny General Hospital nurse in March.

Douglas Bonomo, 59, solicited sex from the nurse, who police did not name, when she entered the room where she attempted to give him IV medication around 7:35 p.m. March 26, according to a criminal complaint.

The nurse told Bonomo his comments were inappropriate. According to the criminal complaint, he replied, “God told me to say this.”

As the nurse continued with her duties, Bonomo groped her twice, saying both times, “She likes this,” the complaint said. The nurse told Bonomo he was acting inappropriately.

The Allegheny County Sheriff Office’s charged Bonomo with two counts of indecent assault, court records show. His preliminary hearing for those charges was scheduled for Aug. 15.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office, who identified Bonomo on Tuesday, has not yet provided a cause or manner of the man’s death.

Bonomo had been an inmate at the jail since Jan. 11. He was pronounced dead by paramedics around 7:20 a.m. Sunday, according to Warden Orlando Harper. He was unresponsive when a jail employee found him at 7 a.m. Staff members attempted life-saving measures until paramedics arrived.

Bonomo was jailed after Brentwood police charged him Jan. 10 with theft, disorderly conduct, retail theft, receiving stolen property and criminal mischief. His non-jury trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 24.

Bonomo had been housed in the county jail’s mental health unit after courts decided in April to commit him to Torrance State Hospital in Derry, Harper said. He was one of 31 inmates at the jail awaiting a transfer to Torrance.

An AHN spokesperson declined to comment Wednesday. Jesse Geleynse, a spokesperson for the jail, declined comment.