Inmate’s Death Is Investigated
Sheriff’s Department homicide detectives are investigating the death of a 32-year-old inmate who passed out and stopped breathing while waiting for medical help Thursday at the County Jail downtown, officials said.
The inmate, Ernesto Bejarano of San Diego, was found hunched on a bench in a holding cell near the jail’s infirmary, Sheriff’s Lt. John Tenwolde said.
An inmate in the cell, Alan Campbell, said he saw Bejarano’s “head tilted over with fluid running out of his mouth and nose.” He and other inmates noticed that Bejarano had stopped breathing and called deputies, who began to revive him. Bejarano was taken to UC San Diego Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:55 a.m., Deputy Coroner Joe Cogen said.
Bejarano, who was arrested Monday on suspicion of burglary, had a history of heroin use and was treated Tuesday after complaining of withdrawal symptoms.
Wednesday, after complaining of chest pains, Bejarano was treated at San Diego Physicians and Surgeons Hospital and later at the jail infirmary for abdominal pain, said Tenwolde.
Thursday morning, Bejarano returned to the infirmary because of severe cramping and vomiting.
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