Another County Jail inmate has died in custody, though the Sheriff’s Department does not believe foul play was involved.
At about 3 a.m. Tuesday, March 24, the Sheriff’s Department said correctional deputies found a 33-year-old man unconscious and unresponsive in a single person cell. According to spokesman Tony Cipolla, the man was seen by deputies kneeling over his bed, which they did not consider unusual.
“His movements and behavior inside the cell were normal and there was no indication the inmate was in any distress,” Cipolla said. Deputies regularly check on inmates every 30 minutes, Cipolla said. “While still in the kneeling position, the inmate appeared to lay his head down on his bed. When Correctional Deputies checked on him, he was unresponsive.”
Deputies administered CPR and an ambulance was called. The inmate, identified as Sean Michael Alexander, 33 of Pismo Beach, had been in jail since March 18 for a probation violation and allegedly being under the influence of drugs. The cell he was In has security cameras and deputies are reviewing that tape as part of an investigation. They were scheduled to conduct an autopsy with results not expected for six to eight weeks.
This is the fifth jailhouse death in the past 15 months. In January 2014, Rudy Joseph Silva, 35, was in custody but died of the swine flu four days after being hospitalized from County Jail.
In March 2014, Josey Richard Meche, 28, was found unresponsive in a holding cell a little more than 2 hours after being booked for alleged resisting arrest. The Coroner’s Office said he died of a combination of methamphetamine overdose and hyperthermia.
Last May, Timothy Richard Janowicz, 29, was found unconscious in his rack by other inmates in the cell. Coroners said Janowicz died of a heroin overdose combined with coronary artery disease.
Jan. 11, 2015, David Osborn, Sr., 63 of Morro Bay was arrested twice in one day for being drunk & disorderly. He was evaluated by jail medical staff and collapsed while sitting in a waiting room to be seen by medical staff and died at the hospital.
Jailhouse deaths are apparently common enough that the Sheriff’s Office has a special webpage, see: www.slosheriff.org and also on the Sheriff’s Facebook page.