An investigation is underway to determine how a man died while in custody at the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria, a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.
Sheriff’s patrol deputies went to a house in the 800 block of Redwood Avenue in the unincorporated area of Santa Maria, about a block north of Righetti High School, about 7:50 a.m. Wednesday on a request to check the welfare of someone there.
While there, they contacted a man who was in violation of his parole conditions with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Jarrett Morris.
The man, who was not identified, was arrested and taken to the Northern Branch Jail, where he was placed in a cell for observation, Morris said.
While in the cell, the man became unresponsive and custody deputies began life-saving efforts, including administering naloxone, which is used to treat opiate drug overdoses.
When Wellpath medical personnel arrived, additional doses of naloxone were administered, and the man temporarily regained consciousness, Morris said.
County Fire Department and American Medical Response personnel were also summoned to the jail, and the man was subsequently transported by AMR ambulance to an area hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Morris said detectives from the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Coroner’s Office are investigating the death, and additional information will be released once the family is notified and when the investigation is complete.
