Sheriff’s officials on Monday released the name of a man who died at the Vista jail over the weekend days after he’d fallen ill, but said it is not clear what caused his death.
Bobby Ray Patton died Saturday morning after going into medical distress in his cell, sheriff’s homicide Lt. Michael Krugh said in a news release. The Sheriff’s Office runs the jails, and its homicide unit investigates all in-custody deaths as a matter of protocol.
Patton, 46, is believed to have lived in Escondido when he was jailed last month. He is at least the ninth person to die in San Diego County custody this year.
Patton was arrested on Nov. 25 on a felony warrant on suspicion of bringing controlled substances into a jail or prison.
On Dec. 24, after he’d been in custody for about a month, Patton told deputies he was suffering from flu-like symptoms. Medical staffers ordered tests and placed him in medical isolation to monitor him and to prevent the spread of illness.
A few days later, around 8 a.m. Saturday, deputies found him sitting on the floor of his cell, breathing but not responding to them. A nurse came to assist, but moments later he had difficulty breathing and went into medical distress, Krugh said.
Medical staffers provided emergency aid until Vista Fire Department medics arrived and took over, but Patton died at the jail.
The Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy Monday but was unable to determine Patton’s cause and manner of death, Krugh said.
