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Inmate held for vandalism dies while in custody
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An inmate from the Sheltered Housing Unit at the San Joaquin County Jail that was being held on charges of vandalism was found unresponsive in his cell on Jan. 23 and died at an area hospital two days later.

The inmate had been in custody since Jan. 20. Neither the inmate’s name or any other details about the incident or the crime that result in the man being incarcerated were released by authorities.

As is customary with all in-custody deaths, the matter is being investigated and the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office – which has been separated from the duties of the San Joaquin County Sheriff to create more autonomy for the medical examiner and remove any appearance of impropriety – will determine the official cause of death and release the inmate’s name once family members have been contacted.

According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, a 46-year-old white male was discovered unresponsive in the single-person cell at approximately 4:50 p.m. on Jan. 23. Lifesaving measures were deployed by staff and the inmate was transported to the adjacent San Joaquin General Hospital where they would be pronounced dead at 2:43 p.m. on Jan. 25.

The inmate that passed away was being housed in a unit in the jail that was used as a medical stepdown unit for inmates with needs that need to be monitored or addressed.

According to a 2015 comprehensive needs assessment prepared for the county, the sheltered housing unit was commonly used as a place for treatment for patients suffering from mental health issues. The specific issues that required that placement was not addressed in the release announcing the inmate’s death.

Prior to the unidentified inmate’s death on Jan. 25 the last in-custody death occurred back in October when an inmate in the administrative segregation unit that had just previously been sentenced to a 5-year prison term for attempted murder was found unresponsive in his cell. The 31-year-old Hispanic male did not respond to lifesaving measures and was pronounced dead at the scene.

To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.