Here's information provided by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office:
On Saturday, September 1, 2012, deputies responded to a cell in Santa Rita Jail where inmate Dennis Jimenez, aged 54, was attempting to hang himself.
Deputies entered the cell where Jimenez was the only occupant and cut him from a homemade noose fashioned from a bed sheet. The sheet was attached to the upper bunk of the cell, and Jimenez used his own body weight to cut off the blood flow to his brain.
Santa Rita staff began lifesaving measures at the jail and Jimenez was transported by ambulance to Valley Care Hospital in Pleasanton where he was pronounced dead.
Jimenez had been in custody at Santa Rita Jail since March 11, 2012 when he was arrested by the Oakland Police Department for DUI, theft and drug charges.
Jimenez was released on the DUI and theft charges, but remained in jail to serve his sentence on the drug charge. He was due to be released on September 5, 2012.
Per protocol, Sheriff’s detectives from the Eden Township Substation arrived to investigate the scene, as well as Coroner’s Investigators.
Very well said. I'm sorry for your loss. From the sound of your post, you sound like you are probably a family member. I didn’t know Dennis, but obviously many of his family and friends are reading the comments here. For those of you who don’t know him but feel the need to pass judgement, take a moment to imagine what it would feel like if it was your loved one being trashed here...
>Apparently some folks don't comprehend personal responsibility. You pay for the mistakes you make....don't blame someone else or the system...only you can keep yourself from getting into trouble in the first place. This is certainly NOT true. personal responsibility is a subjective notion. There are many victim-less crimes (like drug use) for which people are wrongly punished. It is completely appropriate to blame the system for these cases. Many innocent people have been punished for no crime or mistake committed by them. While Jimenez may have been guilty of some things, it would be absurd to suggest that his end is somehow a payment for mistakes.