A 38-year-old inmate died after suffering from unknown health complications at the Murrieta jail, authorities said Wednesday.
Joel E. Rodriguez of Lake Elsinore experienced an unspecified “medical emergency” at the Byrd Detention Center on Tuesday afternoon, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
The agency said Rodriguez was in one of the facility’s “day rooms” when he collapsed. On-site medical personnel initiated resuscitative measures, which county fire paramedics took over when they reached the location a short time later, authorities said.
Rodriguez was taken to Loma Linda Hospital-Murrieta, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Corrections Central Investigations Bureau and Coroner’s Office staff were assigned to conduct a probe into the death.
“There were no signs of foul play at the scene,” according to a sheriff’s statement. “Rodriguez’s family has been notified of his death.”
No further details were provided regarding possible circumstances tied to the fatality.
Jail records indicated Rodriguez was arrested by deputies in Wildomar last week, but details were unavailable.
The sheriff’s department has been sued in state and federal court over alleged civil rights violations, failure to disclose data and related deficiencies related to in-custody deaths. The agency is among the most targeted in civil actions among more than three dozen county agencies.
Sheriff Chad Bianco has defended his deputies’ handling of correctional operations and has repeatedly pointed to the smuggling of dangerous controlled substances — often fentanyl — into the jail system through extraordinary means as the main reason for deaths in detention facilities countywide.