DUI Suspect Dies While in Oxnard Police Holding Cell

An Oxnard man arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol after he rammed the rear of another car died shortly after being found unconscious in a police holding cell a few hours later, authorities said Wednesday.

Retired Port Hueneme naval base worker Luther Thomas Allen, 55, suffered multiple internal chest and abdominal injuries from the crash and slowly bled to death, the Ventura County coroner’s office reported.

He was not hospitalized because his injuries were not obvious, he was alert and declined treatment by paramedics, and his bleeding was all internal, police and paramedics said.

The Oxnard Police Department is investigating Allen’s death, said Cmdr. Joe Munoz, the department’s chief investigator.

Citing the inquiry, Munoz declined to say how often officers checked on the prisoner before he was found unconscious at 7 p.m. Tuesday, nearly three hours after the accident. Nor would Munoz say the time Allen was booked into jail or how he acted while being interviewed by police.

“Any time someone dies in custody, it’s a significant event,” Munoz said. “It’s important to determine exactly what happened in a situation like this.”

Munoz said he did not know the last time someone had died in the small station lockup. Suspects are sometimes booked there, then transferred to County Jail in Ventura.

Although Allen was booked for drunk driving after taking a breath test, police would not say what his blood-alcohol level was. Munoz also would not give details of the accident, including the speed at which Allen was traveling when he rear-ended a second car stopped at the intersection of Channel Islands Boulevard and Ventura Road in Oxnard.

Crash damage was serious enough that the steering wheel column in Allen’s car was rammed into his chest, according to rescue workers.

Occupants of the car he rear-ended did not suffer serious injuries, Munoz said.

Gold Coast Ambulance paramedics at the scene determined that Allen did not need to be taken to the hospital, the coroner’s report said.

Gold Coast operations manager in Oxnard Tony Norton said Wednesday that Allen appeared to be fine and was not complaining of any pain.

“[Allen] did not show any outward signs that he was injured,” Norton said. “He was alert and did not appear disoriented.”

The paramedics typically conduct checks of victims’ vital signs to determine their conditions. The paramedics also asked Allen how he felt and if he wanted to be taken to the hospital.

“He didn’t want to go,” Norton said. “If they are conscious and are able to make that decision for themselves we can’t force them to go to the hospital.”

Norton said it was the first time in his 18 years with the company that he can remember someone who has refused aid and later died.

After the paramedics examined Allen, police officers arrested and booked him. While officers performed a routine check of the holding facility, Allen was found unconscious, Munoz said.

Paramedics and Fire Department emergency workers were called and attempted to revive Allen.

He was taken to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, but was pronounced dead at 7:50 p.m., nearly an hour after his unconscious body was discovered.

The coroner’s office determined Wednesday that his death was a traffic fatality, coroner’s investigator Craig Stevens said.

Allen is survived by a wife, Ada, of Port Hueneme, from whom officials said he was separated, and by two grown children. Court records show Allen’s wife filed for divorce last month.