Inmate Who Died After Intoxication Arrest ID'd

SONOMA COUNTY, CA – The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has identified a county jail inmate who died in a hospital after his arrest in Wednesday as 32-year-old Michael Joe Medina of Sonoma County.

Sheriff's deputies initially found him intoxicated in a vehicle in Windsor, towed the vehicle and took Medina to the county jail where he went into medical distress in the booking area shortly before his death, sheriff's
Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

Around 9:10 a.m. Wednesday deputies responded to a report of an intoxicated man urinating in the parking lot of a Burger King restaurant on Hembree Lane. The man then reportedly got back into a vehicle with fogged-up windows as if he had been there a while, Crum said.

Deputies contacted the man, identified as Medina, around 9:15 a.m., determined he was too intoxicated to care for himself and arrested him for misdemeanor public intoxication, Crum said.

Medina's car was towed and he was taken to the Sonoma County Jail around 9:50 a.m. The man went into medical distress around 12:25 p.m. while sitting in the booking area where he was treated by up to four correctional deputies and five jail medics, Crum said.

Medina was then taken to the hospital around 12:40 p.m. and Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa Medical Center staff notified the sheriff's office of his death at 1:07 p.m., Crum said.

Foul play is not suspected but the death is under investigation, Crum said. The Marin County coroner's office will perform an autopsy.

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PREVIOUS: THURSDAY, FEB. 1, 11:39 a.m.

The death of an inmate from the Sonoma County Jail within hours after his Wednesday arrest on public-intoxication charges is under investigation by authorities.

The inmate, a 32-year-old Sonoma County man who was not identified, was arrested in Windsor at about 9:15 a.m., went into medical distress at 12:23 p.m. in the common booking area and was treated by deputies and jail medics, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

He was transported by ambulance at 12:41 p.m. to Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Santa Rosa, where he later died, deputies said. The Sheriff’s Office was notified of his death at 1:07 p.m.

The arrest began when deputies were called at about 9:09 a.m. to the Burger King on Hembree Lane in Windsor regarding a subject who allegedly urinated in the parking lot and appeared to be intoxicated, the department said.

"The caller reported the man got back into a black Firebird or Camaro, and the windows were fogged up as if he’d been there for a while," the agency said.

Arriving deputies at about 9:15 a.m. found the man in his vehicle in the lot, determined he was "too intoxicated to care for himself" and placed him under arrest, without incident, for misdemeanor suspicion of public intoxication, the department said. The man's car was towed, and he arrived at the jail at 9:50 a.m.

The contact and arrest were captured on the deputies' body-worn cameras, the department said.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office will conduct an autopsy to determine cause of death.

"The man’s prior medical condition is not known at this time, deputies said. "While foul play is not suspected at this time, detectives from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office will be investigating the incident. The man’s name will not be released until next of kin is notified."

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--BAy City News contributed to this report/Shutterstock image