Long Beach : Belmont Shore Transient Dies in Long Beach Jail
A Belmont Shore transient died in the Long Beach jail over the weekend after he was arrested for public intoxication, police reported.
Luther Franklin Griggs, 47, was found dead about 5 a.m. Saturday when guards tried to wake him for breakfast, Long Beach police said. Griggs was arrested the previous night without unusual incident, police spokesman Bob Anderson said.
Police investigators are looking into the death. The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office has not determined a cause of death, and further tests are pending.
Griggs had been arrested about 45 times previously, mostly for public intoxication, Anderson said.
This is the second in-custody death involving Long Beach police this month. On Jan. 5, Carol Domingue, 40, died after struggling with officers who said he was under the influence of rock cocaine and exhibited bizarre behavior. Officers sprayed Domingue with a pepper-based chemical spray, the department’s first use of a spray widely employed by law enforcement agencies.
The cause of Domingue’s death also has not been determined.
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