A man who had been arrested by San Diego police in July died in the Men’s Central Jail on Friday morning after being found in medical distress inside his cell, the Sheriff’s Department said late Friday.
Officials said deputies discovered Eric Alexander Wolf unresponsive during a routine safety check just before 9 a.m.
“Medical staff and deputies immediately began life-saving measures including CPR, Naloxone and Epinephrine,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
“The paramedics arrived and assumed medical care,” the statement added. “Despite these efforts, Wolf was pronounced deceased at 9:25 a.m. by a doctor from Mercy Hospital.”
Wolf, who was 33, had no permanent address, the Sheriff’s Department said. He was arrested on suspicion of violating a court order last summer and received a two-year jail sentence.
The death is being investigated internally and will also be investigated by the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board.
The death is the first reported fatality this year in San Diego County jails, which have historically seen some of the highest mortality rates in the state of California.
Thirteen people died in Sheriff’s Department custody last year, which was fewer than in recent years.
In 2022, the San Diego County jail system recorded 20 deaths, including one man who died at a local hospital hours after he was awarded a compassionate release due to his medical condition.
Eighteen people died in local jails in 2021.
According to a state audit released two years ago, 185 people died in Sheriff’s Department custody between 2006 and 2020 — the highest death rate among large California counties.
Auditors said conditions in San Diego County jails were so dangerous that state lawmakers should enact legislation to better protect the men and women in custody.
Last fall, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two bills designed to improve practices in California jails — and to promote more transparency when people die in custody.
San Diego County taxpayers have paid more than $60 million in recent years to settle legal claims filed by families of people who died in jail or were otherwise injured by sheriff’s deputies.
Sheriff Kelly Martinez said the department has improved practices and taken other steps to protect the people in her custody.
