Santa Clara County Jail Inmate Found Dead in Bathroom

Two inmates at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas were found unconscious in a jail bathroom early this morning. One was revived, and one was pronounced dead on the bathroom floor, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office announced today.

The office did not identify either inmate or the cause of death of one of them.

The man who died had been booked into the Elmwood Correctional Facility, 701 S Able Street, Milpitas, on April 9, for “various charges consisting of possession of a stolen vehicle and outstanding warrants.” He was identified as a 32 year old male.

In a statement, the Sheriff’s Office said the 32 year old inmate was pronounced dead at the scene at 4:48am, 25 minutes after the Milpitas Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services had arrived at the jail following a 4:11am 911 call from jail deputies.

The Sheriff’s Office said the other inmate found unconscious in the Elmwood Correctional Facility bathroom at the same time, a 40 year old male, had been booked into the jail on May 7 “on a court remand issued by the Santa Clara County Superior Court.”

This morning, at 4:11am, “deputies assigned to the Elmwood Correctional Facility located two unresponsive male inmates inside of a bathroom. Deputies immediately performed CPR and began life-saving measures on both inmates,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a July 22 statement.

The 40 year old inmate was transported to a nearby medical facility and his condition is listed as stable at this time, according to the statement.

“The Sheriff’s Office is following standard protocol for an in-custody death by conducting a joint investigation between the Sheriff's Office, District Attorney’s Office and the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office,” the statement read. “At this time, we will not release any additional information until there is confirmation that the next of kin has been notified and we have more information from the investigation.”

3 Comments

  1. While we will have to wait for the toxicology report to determine the actual cause of death, one might wonder whether these two should have listened to Nancy Reagan: “just say no.”

    Does the Sheriff maintain Narcan nasal spray in its facilities?

  2. “Does the Sheriff maintain Narcan nasal spray in its facilities?” — HB

    I can just imagine a personal injury lawyer, representing the family of an overdose “victim,” twisting the jail’s maintenance of a supply of Narcon (in a secure facility in which drug possession is forbidden) as an admission of the incompetence, negligence, or corruption of its staff.

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