Homeless Man Found Dead In Long Beach City Jail

LONG BEACH, CA — An inmate in the Long Beach City Jail was discovered dead in his cell while detention officers were conducting a routine safety check this week, authorities announced Wednesday.

According to the Long Beach Police Department, officers conducted routine checks on all inmates around 4 p.m. on Tuesday when they discovered an unresponsive inmate in his jail cell. Immediately, LBPD said, the officers and the jail nurse entered the inmate's cell and rendered medical aid.

Paramedics also responded to the jail to attempt to provide medical aid, but resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful and the man was pronounced dead in the jail.

LBPD identified the inmate as 28-year-old Steven Alfred Price, who told officers he was experiencing homelessness in the City of Anaheim. According to authorities, Price was arrested on June 12 at 10:45 a.m. for a parole violation.

"There was not a use of force involving Price while he was in police custody," LBPD said in a statement.

It is customary with in-custody deaths for Homicide detectives to investigate the incident, and the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner will conduct an independent investigation and determine the cause of death. Authorities said as of now, this incident is being investigated as an undetermined death.

The LA County District Attorney was notified about Price's death and authorities said additional details about the circumstances of his death as well as demographic information will be posted online.

If anyone has additional details about this incident, LBPD urged people to contact Homicide Detectives Eric Thai or Ethan Shear at 562-570-7244. Anonymous reports can be submitted by calling 800-222-8477 or online at LACrimeStoppers.org.