Oct. 11—A man died inside the Eddy County Detention Center on Thursday after being booked into the facility hours earlier.
Warden Billy Massingill said Joel Barrett had a “medical emergency” but did not elaborate on the cause. He said the 29-year-old was pronounced dead at the jail, but did not say what time the medical emergency occurred.
Barrett sometime after midnight on Thursday was arrested on charges of battery upon a peace officer and operating a bicycle without lamps or other equipment.
Massingill said all inmates are examined by a nurse at the jail. He said Barrett did not exhibit any behavior that would have called for an additional evaluation.
Barrett told his arresting officer, and a nurse at the facility, that he did not have any injuries or need any medical attention, according to a statement of probable cause filed in Carlsbad Magistrate Court.
The inmate lookup website for the facility listed the cell block Barrett was in as “HALLWAY.”
“That particular location is designated for multiple usage,” Massingill said. “The hallway is kind of a place where we manage inmates that may have certain medical needs. But there’s no one designated reason that we place them in that housing unit.”
Court records show a Carlsbad police officer was on patrol on Wednesday around 11:30 p.m. when he saw Barrett riding his bicycle without a headlamp.
Police discovered Barrett had a bench warrant for his arrest and moved to detain him, according to the statement of probable cause. Barrett “became very tense” and grabbed the officer’s fingers.
“Barrett became very combative… and became verbally and physically aggressive,” the statement of probable cause states. Police said Barrett kicked an officer causing “pain and discomfort” before he was “thrown to the ground” and taken into custody.
At the jail, according to the statement of probable cause, “Barrett advised the nursing staff that he was not injured.”