1 inmate dead after a dozen overdoses at Maricopa County jail
Inmate dead from overdose at Maricopa County jail
In just about a week's time, Estrella Jail reported a dozen inmate overdoses and one inmate death, and officials with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office believe they know what caused the overdoses. FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas has more on how MCSO plans to put a stop to it.
PHOENIX - An inmate is dead after a dozen overdoses were reported over the past week at a Maricopa County jail.
What we know:
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says 12 overdoses happened at Estrella Jail. Sheriff Jerry Sheridan detailed one of the incidents.
"The first incident that we had was on February 6, where we had a call at a state jail. Eight inmates had medical conditions that we recognize to be as possible overdoses," said Sheriff Sheridan.
The most recent incident happened just before 1:00 a.m. on Feb. 14. During that incident, four inmates received medical care, with one inmate later dying.
In both incidents, detention officers reportedly found fentanyl.
"It was approximately seven to eight grams in a plastic bag," said Sheriff Sheridan. "Those were removed by the inmate from her body cavity, and given to detention officers."
Detention officer Barbara Herrera also found fentanyl in an inmate's cell.
"I entered the cell. To the left-hand side, there's a desk and there's a port where the inmates can set their tablets on and do their visits, and there was a piece of folded paper tucked in pretty deeply into the lip of the of the charging port," said Herrera. "When I opened up the paper, there was powder substance, and then I turned that over to our intelligence unit, and it was tested where it did come back positive for fentanyl."
Per officials, the inmates involved in the alleged incidents have been identified.
What we don't know:
The inmate who died was not identified.
What's next:
MCSO believes this is an inmate-driven problem, and Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez expects further changes, once they determine which inmate is responsible for bringing in the substances.
"Information is documented that some individuals purposely get booked into jail to bring and introduce drugs into our jail facilities," said Sgt. Enriquez.
Officials with MCSO also said every jail will get X-Ray scanners soon, saying it's a top priority to keep inmates and staff members safe.