A 60-year-old man died in County Jail last week after spending nine months behind bars for allegedly stealing cash from Radio Shack. He had prior offenses, according to the District Attorney’s Office, and and his bail was set at $70,000.
Henry Acuna of Santa Barbara had suffered from “chronic medical issues” and was under observation by jail medical staff, said Sheriff’s spokesperson Kelly Hoover. He was found unresponsive in his single cell on March 2 at about 7 a.m. He was transported to Cottage Hospital and died early the next morning.
“The jail is not equipped to provide the treatment with someone of those kinds of needs,” charged Aaron Fischer, an attorney with Disability Rights California, which filed a lawsuit against the County Jail last December. Fischer called Acuna “a pretty poignant example of what can happen” when chronically ill people suffer in rundown county jails.