Contra Costa County Jail Inmate Who Died After Being Tased Identified

MARTINEZ (CBS SF) — A Contra Costa County Jail inmate who died Tuesday after a sheriff's deputy used a Taser to subdue him has been identified as 58-year-old Oakland man Donald Ray McCullough, a sheriff's office spokesman said on Wednesday.

Pinole police brought McCullough to the main county jail in Martinez Tuesday after arresting him on suspicion of second-degree burglary, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and probation violation, sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said.

Around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Oakland man became uncooperative with deputies in the jail's intake area. While being taken to a holding cell, McCullough resisted the deputies who were escorting him, prompting one of the deputies to use his Taser on him, Lee said.

The deputies were then able to regain control of McCullough and placed him in a holding cell. When deputies checked on him around 2:30 p.m., he was unresponsive, according to the sheriff's office.

Medical staff performed CPR on McCullough and he was transported to Contra Costa Regional Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead.

The jail was locked down for nearly five hours after deputies found McCullough unresponsive in his cell, and reopened for incoming inmates around 7:15 p.m., Lee said.

The sheriff's office is continuing to investigate McCullough's death. The results of an autopsy performed on the 58-year-old today should be released in several weeks, Lee said.

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