Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Inmate Dies Following Rash of Suspected Fentanyl Overdoses at Mendocino County Jail

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The following is a press release issued by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office:


MCSOSheriffFeatured
[Stock image by Matt LaFever]

On 03-01-2024 at approximately 12:00 PM the Mendocino County Jail control board operator received an intercom call from a cell located in a module within the facility’s main jail building.

The intercom call was initiated by an inmate housed in a two-person occupied cell who asked for a Corrections Deputy to respond to the cell. 

A Corrections Deputy responded and noticed one male inmate in the cell was unconscious with discoloring in the face which suggested a life-threatening breathing problem.  The floor Deputy immediately summoned the assistance of other correctional staff to include on-duty facility medical personnel.

The Deputy entered the cell and began to provide life-saving techniques for a potential choking situation as the housing unit had just concluded lunch in a group setting before returning to their assigned cells for housing purposes.  

During this process it appeared the inmate was not choking and multiple dosages of Narcan were administered due to a suspected drug overdose.  As a result, the inmate began to show signs of recovery and improved health.

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During this time a Corrections Lieutenant began to perform a walkthrough of the housing module to assess the health and safety of the other male inmates housed in this specific housing module.

During an inspection of a nearby cell, the Lieutenant found an unresponsive male inmate who was housed by himself.  Correctional staff and personnel with the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority entered the cell and began providing medical aid to include the use of Narcan.

The Lieutenant continued the walkthrough of the housing module and inspected a nearby cell which contained three male inmates.  The Lieutenant noticed one of the male inmates had an abnormally pale complexion and was sweating.  Correctional and medical staff provided aid to the inmate to include the use of Narcan.  These efforts resulted in an observed improvement in the inmate’s physical condition.

The Lieutenant continued the walkthrough of the housing module and inspected a nearby cell which contained one male inmate.  The inmate was laying on the floor and was unconscious.  Correctional staff and ambulance personnel, who had just arrived at the jail, entered the cell and provided medical aid to the inmate to include the use of Narcan.

The Lieutenant continued the walkthrough of the housing module and inspected a nearby cell which contained three male inmates.  The Lieutenant noticed one of the inmates had an abnormally pale complexion and was sweating.  As the Lieutenant interacted with the inmate, he noticed the inmate began to display an altered level of consciousness.  Correctional and medical staff entered the cell and began to provide medical aid to include the use of Narcan on this specific inmate.  As a result, the inmate began to show signs of recovery and improved health.

In total, five male inmates were provided medical aid for life-threatening suspected overdose conditions while being housed in the same housing module in the Mendocino County Jail. 

These five male inmates were alive during onsite medical aid efforts and were subsequently transported by ambulance to a local hospital for further medical treatment for their continued life-threatening medical conditions.  One inmate later died after arriving at the hospital.

The identity of the deceased inmate is not available for public release at this time pending notification of their Next of Kin.

Sheriff’s Detectives and investigators with the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office are conducting investigations in connection with the Mendocino County Fatal Incident Protocol.

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10 COMMENTS

  1. ?? Sorry to hear that. Condolences to his family I am. Very sorry. ?????

    Please people, get off the fenty ANY way you have to. Take suboxone! Or methadone. I heard we have a clinic here in Ukiah.

    Please don’t play games with your life. It’s too valuable. You ARE loved! You ARE important!

  2. So…… Is the person that brought it in is found out. Are they going to have five attempted murders and one murder as charges?

  3. The last thing you ever want to do is go on Methadone. It’s a death sentence in itself. I was on Methadone for 3 years when I decided to go to rehab in 2011 and quit and I didn’t sleep for 12 days. Zero sleep for 12 days. It took 30 days before I got more than 3 hours sleep in a night. It took 90 days before I got 6 hours sleep in a night. I lost my ever loving mind. It’s a long acting synthetic opioid designed by Hitler’s chief doctors looking for a safer alternative to morphine. They were wrong. It’s the worst substance a person could possibly consume. Suboxone is 100 times safer. I would eat a bullet before I ever decided to go on Methadone again.

  4. Soooooooooo, why was there only one deputy checking each cell at a time when it was clear there was a serious issue going on in the cells? Crappy police work.

    • So how many do you want? Are you aware how many are working at 1 time. In this jail it’s normally 8 with 2 working to allow movement between their 2 buildings. Sometimes it can be just 6. Lake county is less. Del Norte only has 2 on during slow times. Considering Mendo is designed for around 300 people, 8 or 6 people can spread thin quickly. If you want more, how do you want to pay for it? I for one have no desire to pay for more cops in the jail. But I’m sure the sheriff or the county will be happy to accept your hefty donation for this endeavor. Next is finding people to work in there. I would never want to work there. Maybe you could work there Cassandra? I’m sure you would do better.

    • You needs to work the jail buddy. Then you might have a clue. In 1967 I used to work there, and had as many as 125 prisoners under my care. Tough job that you have no clue about.

  5. When it comes to fentanyl it’s safe to say most of these people won’t get better. It’s a personal choice. Don’t blame the jail.

  6. “This is all well and good however, there are other experts in these fields who must be consulted as well. The experts who serve on the front lines every day. Without their input, the best-made plans will fail.”
    So much for your expertise MK. Failure on your part all the way, your plans obviously weren’t “best made”.

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MendoFever Staff
MendoFever Staff
Editor's Note: Whenever an article's byline reads "MendoFever Staff", the contents of that article were not composed by any of our reporters. Types of writing that will be attributed to "MendoFever Staff" include press releases, letters to the editor, op-eds, obituaries— essentially writing that is not produced by a reporter.

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