SAN DIEGO (CNS) - An inmate found dead last month at the San Diego Central Jail committed suicide by asphyxiating himself with food, authorities reported today. Deputies conducting a security check at the Front Street detention center found Manuel Cruz, 37, unresponsive about 3:45 p.m. Oct. 2, according to sheriff's officials.
Jailers and medics tried in vain to revive the San Diego man before pronouncing him dead.``The deceased man (had been) alone in his secure cell, and no preliminary evidence of (traumatic) injury or foul play was discovered,'' sheriff's Lt. Rich Williams said.
The county Medical Examiner's Office ruled that Cruz, who had been jailed on a warrant related to charges of driving while intoxicated, intentionally choked himself to death with food, the lieutenant said.