[Southsider2k12]

I even heard this on the Chicago news this morning.

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...e2584746251.txt

Jail death is under investigation

Published: Sunday, March 20, 2011 5:06 PM CDT
LA PORTE – La Porte County Sheriff Michael Mollenhauer said an in-custody inmate died at the La Porte County Security Complex.

The death occurred early Saturday morning.

No further details were being released Saturday pending further investigation of the incident by the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office and the La Porte County Coroner’s Office and until notification is made to the individual’s next of kin.

[Southsider2k12]

http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/In..._118424009.html

An inmate has died at the La Porte County Security Complex after he apparently swallowed a baggie of cocaine to avoid a drug charge.

Roy Young, 37, of Michigan City, was pronounced dead at the Indiana University Health Center just before 8 a.m. Saturday.

Young was arrested just after 1:30 a.m. for driving while intoxicated. Police say he showed no signs of distress during booking. At about 7 a.m. he suffered a seizure in his cell and was transported to the hospital via ambulance.

Police say an interview with Young's cellmate revealed that Young had told him he had swallowed a baggie of cocaine during the traffic stop to avoid being arrested for drug possession. Police say the cellmate also said Young tried to regurgitate the cocaine by sticking his finger in his mouth.

An autopsy was performed Monday. The official cause of death is cardiac arrhythmia induced by a drug overdose. A plastic tie-off baggie was found inside Young.

The death has been ruled accidental. Toxicology results are pending.

Police say neither Young nor his cellmate alerted them to the cocaine ingestion until after Young suffered the seizure.

[Ang]

Hmmm....

Drug charge or death?

I'd opt for the drug charges. Of course, I would never be in that predicament, but I would rather spend a few years behind bars than an eternity under ground prematurely.

[Tim]

Good Lord - what a sad, horrible way to go. Yet having been down that road - decades ago - not far-fetched at all.

Drugs suck.

[Ang]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...5a713531936.txt

Jail inmate’s death ruled accidental

From Staff Reports
Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011 5:07 PM CDT
LA PORTE — The death of a Chicago man being held at La Porte County Jail on Saturday morning was ruled accidental.

The official cause of death for Roy E. Young, 37, was determined to be cardiac arrhythmia induced by a possible drug overdose, La Porte County Coroner John Sullivan said Monday.

“There was no evidence of trauma or a stroke,” he said.

According to a news release issued by Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer, a small plastic bag was found in Young’s intestinal tract during the autopsy performed at IU Health La Porte Hospital on Monday afternoon.

Evidence is consistent with the statement given to police by Young’s cell mate that Young told him he swallowed cocaine during the La Porte police traffic stop so he wouldn’t be arrested for having the drug.

Young was detained and booked at La Porte County Jail at 1:37 a.m. Saturday on a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He showed no signs of distress during the booking process, Mollenhauer said. He was placed in a holding cell with another inmate, and video shows Mr. Young sleeping for the majority of the night.

“He was in a holding cell with one other person, and we heard the other man yell for someone at 7:05 a.m.,” Mollenhauer said in an interview. “The jailer saw him lying there, and then we took him to the hospital.”

Young was pronounced dead 40 minutes later at the hospital.

It was not learned until later, when his cell mate was interviewed, that Young ingested cocaine. His cell mate said Young attempted to regurgitate the cocaine by placing his finger into his mouth. Neither Young nor the cell mate alerted jail personnel until he suffered the seizure.

Toxicology results, performed by the South Bend Medical Foundation, are expected to be completed in seven to 10 days.