DUBLIN — Investigators said Wednesday they were looking into the death of a man incarcerated at Santa Rita Jail.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said deputies who were distributing medicine to inmates found 39-year-old Stephen Lofton unresponsive and alone in a cell shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Deputies began life-saving measures, continuing until custodial nurses and Alameda County Fire Department paramedics summoned to the cell took over, but Lofton was pronounced dead at the jail. Evidence found in the cell indicated he died by suicide, but the investigation is ongoing, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff’s Lt. Tya Modeste, in a press release, said neither the jail intake process nor prior contacts with Lofton yielded any sign of self-harm in his history. Jail officials notified Lofton’s next of kin, who disclosed that Lofton had “no known mental health issues, but suffered from severe substance abuse issues.”
Hayward police booked Lofton into the Dublin jail around 7:30 p.m. last Friday after his arrest on suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, as well as a controlled substance and narcotic paraphernalia.
The sheriff’s office said it notified the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office of the in-custody death and will submit a report to the California Attorney General’s Office office.
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
Source: www.mercurynews.com