Quick Take
Inmate Mark Van Beckner, 57, died of an arterial aortic aneurysm at the Santa Cruz County Jail, according to a Wednesday update from the sheriff’s office. He was booked into the jail only two days prior to his Nov. 1 death.
An inmate who died at the Santa Cruz County Main Jail on Nov. 1 suffered from internal bleeding caused by an arterial aortic aneurysm, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
A media release from Lt. Patrick Dimick said the inmate, 57-year-old Mark Van Beckner, was initially booked into the jail Oct. 30 for felony possession of stolen property and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Quick Take
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The sheriff’s office said correctional staff noticed that Van Beckner appeared to be ill around 5 a.m. on Nov 1, when he was moved to an isolation cell for further observation.
He was found unresponsive in his cell more than two hours later, at 7:45 a.m., when correctional officers called emergency medical services. Van Beckner was declared dead at 8:16 a.m.
Lookout asked the sheriff’s office why it took more than two hours for the jail’s staff to summon medical services after Van Beckner became ill, but a spokesperson did not respond by publication time.
A grand jury report from June 2021 showed that Santa Cruz County saw 6.4 inmate deaths per 100,000 bookings from 2005 to 2019 — the seventh-lowest rate among California counties.
The main jail currently holds a little more than 300 inmates and has a medical clinic with a doctor, registered nurses, and psychiatric professionals on site.
