Park, who was arrested on charges in connection with a burglary, was booked into Santa Rita in the early morning on Feb. Representatives for Wellpath did not immediately return a request for comment. “We’ve been able to stop and mitigate a lot of suicides before they happen,” he said, “but it doesn’t take very much for us to miss someone that’s able to complete the act in a very short amount of time.”
In recent years, treatment of people with mental disabilities and substance abuse incarcerated there - including a practice of locking inmates in isolation for extended periods of time - has drawn public outrage, as well as several lawsuits and federal investigations. The jail, which is run by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, is one of the largest in the state, holding about 2,000 detainees on any given day. Earlier this month, the family of a woman who allegedly overdosed on fentanyl last year at Santa Rita sued the county, arguing that “inadequate mental health care, inhumane living conditions, and an inadequate drug search policy” all led to her death. It is the second lawsuit filed against Alameda County and Ahern in the past month regarding concerns about the health and safety of detainees at Santa Rita Jail. Sanjay Schmidt, a San Francisco-based attorney representing Park’s family, said he hopes the lawsuit will “deliver justice” to the family and help prevent “a needless death like this from occurring again by promoting robust policy changes that will keep all inmates safe and address all of their mental and medical health needs.” District Court for the Northern District of California, Park’s family alleges that his death was a result of Alameda County, Sheriff Gregory Ahern and correctional healthcare provider Wellpath’s “deliberate indifference” to Park’s “serious, emergency medical and mental health needs.” In particular, the lawsuit claims that staff at the jail lack adequate training and policies in medical and mental health screening and therefore fail to identify, treat and supervise incarcerated people who are at risk for suicide. Just five days after arriving at the Dublin jail, the 33-year-old inmate, who had a history of anxiety and bipolar disorder, allegedly hung himself in his cell. Jonas Park, who died in 2021 at Santa Rita Jail, is pictured with his daughter. Handout Instead, he was placed in a single, isolated cell and only given the chance to leave it once during the time he spent in custody, according to a new lawsuit filed in federal court. When Jonas Park was booked into Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail while actively experiencing opiate withdrawal, he was never given the recommended treatment nor seen by a mental health professional.
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