On Sunday, January 1, 2012, an adult male subject was pronounced deceased at a local hospital after attempting suicide in the Long Beach City Jail.

On Friday, December 30, 2011, Long Beach police officers arrested 33-year-old Andrew Dodson at his Long Beach residence on a drug charge and transported him to the Long Beach Police Department. He was booked and processed without incident, and placed into a jail cell at approximately 9:05 p.m. A jail detention officer making rounds discovered the inmate, who was alone at the time, hanging from the jail cell bars by his sweatpants at approximately 10:53 p.m. He was immediately freed from the bars and jail staff, including a registered nurse who is staffed in the facility, began life-saving efforts without delay. Long Beach Fire Department paramedics responded and took over-life saving efforts while transporting him to a local hospital. He was placed in ICU and listed in critical condition, where he remained until he was pronounced deceased on January 1, 2012.

Homicide detectives were notified and responded to the jail to conduct an investigation once Dodson was found, and the investigation remains ongoing.

The Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office is also conducting an investigation into the incident to determine the official cause of death, which is standard procedure with in-custody deaths. Anyone with information regarding this investigation should contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives Scott Lasch and Donald Goodman at (562) 570-7244