SANTA BARBARA — The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has reported the death of an inmate at the county Main Jail.
Raquel Zick, the public information officer, said that at approximately 2:20 p.m. Saturday, the custody staff, while conducting a routine security check, found Kean Ardie San Juan Pinon, 35, of Santa Maria unresponsive in his housing unit. Ms. Zick said Mr. Pinon was alone and hanging from a bedsheet fashioned as a ligature in an apparent suicide attempt.
In a news release, Ms. Zick said custody staff immediately provided aid and called for jail medical staff and paramedics to respond.
Mr. Pinon was transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where he died approximately an hour later. Mr. Pinon’s next of kin have been notified. “Although this appears to be an apparent suicide, the Sheriff’s Office is conducting a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident,” Ms. Zick said in the news release. “The Sheriff/Coroner’s Office will conduct further investigation to determine the cause and manner of his death.”
Mr. Pinon was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on July 12, 2021, at 10:56 a.m. for an on-view arrest by the Santa Maria Police Department on a charge of residential burglary, a Santa Barbara County warrant issued for a probation violation on charges of possession of controlled substances in a jail, a Santa Barbara County warrant issued for a probation violation on charges of grand theft, and a court remand for possession/purchase of narcotics for sales.
— Dave Mason
