Police Investigating Local Man's Death in Jail

Image: Paul Guida (FCPD)

Detectives with the Fairfax County Police Department are investigating the death on Saturday night of a Falls Church man who had been jailed for violating a protective order.

At about 11 p.m., Paul Guida, 68, was found unresponsive in his cell in the infirmary area of the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center (ADC), the police said. He was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital by ambulance, where he was pronounced dead.

The police said Tuesday that they’re awaiting the results of an autopsy conducted Monday by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. They said they will provide an update on the investigation within 30 days or as information becomes available.

Guida had been taken in the early hours of Oct. 1 to the ADC (the county jail in Fairfax City) after being arrested at a home in the Falls Church area. The police said they responded at 1:35 a.m. to the home, in the 3100 block of Holmes Run Road, after receiving a report that Guida had violated a protective order that the residents of the home had filed against him.

Officers on the scene confirmed there was an active protective order banning Guida from the property. He reportedly told one officer that he had just left the hospital, and a taxi had dropped him off at the residence.

Guida suffered from chronic, ongoing medical conditions, but the officer had a clear conversation with him, the police said. He was arrested, walked to a patrol car and transported to the county jail.

Once there, a magistrate issued a warrant against Guida for violation of a protective order, his third offense, the police said. He was processed by the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office and transferred to the ADC. It was unclear whether Guida was being held without bond or could not post bond.