An inmate at the Penobscot County Jail died Tuesday night from a potential drug overdose, according to the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office.
Correctional officers were alerted to an emergency in the quarantine unit at the jail at 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday afternoon.
Officers found the male inmate unresponsive and other inmates attempting to resuscitate him. Officers and medical staff administered medical care until the Bangor Fire Department arrived, but the unnamed man was unable to be revived, according to the sheriff’s office.
Police don’t believe the death was caused by any physical altercation between inmates or with staff.
“The incident is being investigated as a potential overdose death and we are awaiting results of a post-mortem examination from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner,” the sheriff’s office said.
The Bangor Police Department was called to investigate and the Maine Department of Corrections was notified as part of the death investigation protocol of the attorney general’s office.