Two Inmates Experiencing Opioid Overdoses At Santa Barbara County Jail Northern Branch

Two inmates were brought back after apparently overdosing on opioids at Santa Barbara County Jail Northern Branch on Saturday.

Inmates in the Santa Barbara County Jail Northern Branch [Photo: Cal Coast News]

Santa Barbara County Jail Northern Branch News

According to an article by Jackson Friedman, Sheriff’s office spokesperson Raquel Zick said that around 4:56 p.m. on Saturday, a custody worker found an unresponsive female inmate with blue lips lying on the floor. The female inmate was experiencing an apparent overdose. The custody staff called for an emergency medical response and administered two doses of Narcan. The female inmate regained consciousness and was transported to a nearby hospital for follow-up care.

According to an article by Andrew Gillies, while the first female inmate was being transported, custody deputies saw her cellmate exhibiting signs of an apparent overdose. They called a second ambulance, and two doses of Narcan were used on the second inmate. The second inmate regained consciousness after receiving two Narcan doses and was also transported to a nearby hospital for follow-up care.

These Saturday’s incidents are only the latest in a series of opioid overdoses in the county’s jail system. In September 2023, three inmates were overdosed at Santa Barbara County Main Jail, where days before a 31-year-old, Luis Enrique Duron Rodriguez, was found unresponsive in his cell. He died after being transported to a nearby hospital. In May, a 57-year-old, David Lee Ligon, was died in the Santa Barbara County Jail Northern Branch of an apparent drug overdose just days after another male inmate, Rio Favorite Ulvaeus,45, died of an opioid overdose in the Santa Barbara County Main Jail.

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