An inmate of the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail who died in the early morning hours Wednesday may have been experiencing withdrawal symptoms from heroin and alcohol, officials said.
Jason D. Perry was committed to the jail Feb. 3 after he was arrested on a warrant that was issued after he allegedly stole a pair of earrings and some bedsheets from Belk in James City County. It’s unclear where Perry was living: the warrant listed an address in North Carolina, however some contacts in the area mentioned a James City County address and that he might have been staying at a Motel Six, said Major Stephen Rubino of the James City County Police Department. There is no information about drugs listed in the police report from his arrest.
The cause of death is still unknown pending a determination from the medical examiner.
When the 30-year-old Perry arrived at the jail, he said he did not have any physical or mental health problems to report during a series of 45 questions asked to all inmates when they are booked. These questions delve into such areas as drug use, withdrawals, seizures, thoughts of suicide and a host of similar issues, said John Kuplinski, the administrator at the jail.
On the morning of Feb. 4, Perry was moved to the medical unit because he was experiencing vomiting and diarrhea, Kuplinski said. There he admitted to a nurse he had been using heroin and drinking alcohol, so the nurse investigated symptoms of withdrawals from those substances. The jail’s physician was summoned, and some medications commonly prescribed to counteract the physical effects of withdrawal were prescribed.
The more extreme symptoms of withdrawal, such as delusions, were not reported to the jail’s medical personnel.
On the morning of Feb. 5, the nurse who saw him the previous day examined him again. He said then that he was more at ease than he was the day before and that he felt better. He took his medication, and the nurse did not notice anything unusual. Kuplinski said Perry took all of the medication prescribed to him each time it was offered.
Around 3 a.m. Feb. 6, Perry complained of chest pains to the duty officer, but did not comment on the severity of the pain. The duty officer proceeded to call the shift supervisor and the assistant shift supervisor down. When they arrived, Perry admitted to not feeling well, but did not mention the chest pains. They observed him for a time, noting he was lucid and coherent, Kuplinski said. Nothing at that time indicated Perry needed further medical attention, so the lieutenant determined the nurse would see Perry when she arrived around 4:30 a.m. for a diabetic call.
The duty officer was instructed to check in on Perry frequently and update him on any changes in Perry’s condition. The duty officer checked on Perry at 3:20, 3:30, 3:40 and 3:50 a.m. without noticing any problems. These checks consist a visual examination, including looking for the rising and falling of the inmate’s chest, Kuplinski said.
At 3:57 a.m. the duty officer found Perry sitting in front of the toilet, slumped over. She shouted his name and banged on the door and did not get a response. Assistance was called, and jail staff began performing CPR on Perry. He was pronounced dead at 4:19 a.m.
