Police find man hanging in jail cell

A Costa Mesa man was pronounced dead Friday evening after he was found hanging in his cell at Costa Mesa Jail, according to police.

The 47-year-old was found hanging in his cell alone around 5:30 p.m. Friday. The man had been booked at Costa Mesa Jail on Friday on suspicion of driving under the influence and causing bodily harm after he reportedly rear-ended a motorcycle on West 18th Street near Placentia Avenue, according to police.

The motorcyclist complained of pain at the scene of the accident, but refused medical treatment, Lt. Dale Birney said.

Hours after he was booked, the man was found in his cell hanging, and Costa Mesa Fire Department paramedics treated him on the scene. He was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian where he was pronounced dead just before 6:30 p.m., police said.

The man was in a regular cell, all of which are checked by Costa Mesa jailers once an hour, officials said.

Birney could not say what the man used to hang himself or what his behavior was when he was booked.

The police will not release any other information until an investigation is conducted by Orange County district attorney's investigators. Investigators from the prosecutor's office handle in-custody deaths as a matter of protocol, Birney said. An in-custody death is considered to be one that occurs while the person is in custody or within 24 hours of being released, Birney said.

In 2002, a Newport Beach man died at Hoag Hospital after being booked in Costa Mesa Jail on suspicion of being drunk in public. An autopsy at the time proved inconclusive, but the man had been described as appearing "to be extremely intoxicated," according to June 1, 2002, Daily Pilot story.

— Amanda Pennington