Suspect, 47, dies in custody in the garage of Sacramento’s downtown jail, police say
A man died in the custody of Rancho Cordova police Tuesday while in the parking garage of the Sacramento County Main Jail just prior to booking, law enforcement officials said.
The Rancho Cordova Police Department in a news release said the 47-year-old man, whom the department did not identify, was arrested after a high-speed pursuit ended with his vehicle becoming disabled in the Arden Arcade area.
He died just after 3 p.m. of an apparent medical emergency in the garage at the downtown jail, according to the news release, which said he had been conscious and alert when taken into custody about 90 minutes earlier.
The man allegedly fled after officers attempted a stop in Rancho Cordova for traffic violations, prompting a chase through the county and city of Sacramento that reached speeds of 90 mph. The man drove the wrong way against oncoming traffic at one point, authorities said.
“Rancho Cordova police officers were going to book the subject into the Main Jail when he had a medical emergency in the garage of the jail,” the Police Department said in the release Wednesday evening.
“Officers rendered immediate aid to the man” until Sacramento Fire Department personnel arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene, police said.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office will conduct an in-custody death investigation, and the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office will determine the cause of death via autopsy, according to the Rancho Cordova Police Department, which is staffed by Sheriff’s Office deputies under a contract with the county.
The man’s identity will be released by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office pending notification of family.
Tuesday’s pursuit ended near Watt Avenue and Adams Road, after the man “spun his vehicle out several times throughout the pursuit until finally deflating both rear tires after hitting a curb and medians,” police wrote.
“Once stopped, he was completely compliant with officers, and no force was used beyond double handcuffing due to his size.”
Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District personnel responded to the scene of the arrest. The suspect was “alert, coherent and able to answer all questions appropriately before refusing a medical evaluation,” according to the Police Department.
Rancho Cordova police took the man into custody at 1:31 p.m. and had been about to book him into the jail on a felony probation warrant and felony evasion charges related to the pursuit. He was instead pronounced dead at 3:02 p.m.
The man was known by local law enforcement and had an “extensive” criminal rap sheet dating to 1990 that included a wide variety of charges, according to the news release, and had been on probation through 2023.
Tuesday’s incident marked the second in-custody death in less than two weeks at the downtown jail facility. The Sheriff’s Office announced last week that a 67-year-old inmate found semiconscious in his cell the night of July 23 died of an apparent non-COVID medical emergency.
This story was originally published August 4, 2022 at 8:06 AM.
