A man at San Diego Central Jail experienced a medical emergency in his cell Friday and died of unknown causes after being taken to a hospital.
Staffers performing routine hourly rounds at the Front Street detention center found the 68-year-old man in crisis shortly after 1 a.m., the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Deputies and medical staff, including a medical doctor, entered the cell to evaluate the man’s condition, according to Lt. Michael Krugh, and determined that he needed to be transported to the hospital. But the man became unresponsive and they started administering CPR.
An ambulance took the man to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead just after 4 a.m. His name was withheld pending family notification.
The man had been in custody since July, when he was arrested on drug-related charges. He was housed in a medical-observation unit due to chronic ailments and what sheriff’s officials called “his refusal to accept treatment for certain issues.”
The county Medical Examiner’s Office was called in to determine the cause and manner of the man’s death.
