Suspected overdoses at Sacramento County Main Jail send inmates to area hospital

Four inmates at the Sacramento County Main Jail were taken by ambulance late Thursday to a hospital emergency room for suspected overdoses, and all were in stable condition recovering, sheriff’s officials said.

Defense attorneys for inmates say they heard of a disturbance at the jail were told that several inmates on one floor were found unresponsive.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Kionna Rowe said the incident began at about 5 p.m. after deputies notified medical staff that one male inmate on the sixth floor “was suffering from an unknown medical emergency.”

“While they were rendering aid, three additional inmates on same floor also began suffering from some sort of medical emergency,” she said. “They were displaying similar symptoms.”

Fire personnel were summoned and the inmates were given the nasal spray Narcan, which is used to reverse possible opioid overdoses, then taken by ambulance to a hospital, which she did not identify.

The inmates were alert when they left the jail, and late Thursday were “alert, conscious and in stable condition” at the hospital, Rowe said.

She said she had no information on how long the inmates had been at the jail and said an investigation would be conducted to determine if contraband had been smuggled into the I Street facility that could have been responsible.

“Right now there is an ongoing investigation,” she said. “The deputies are questioning the other inmates.”

This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 9:04 PM.