OAKLAND, Calif. - A security guard from Oakland who died in Santa Rita Jail this week had originally been arrested for not wearing a mask on a bus this summer and then swearing at the bus driver.The story of what happened to Maurice Monk, a 45-year-old security guard who suffered from mental illness and who died alone in a cell on Monday, raises questions about the care he received while incarcerated and why he was in jail in the first place.
The sheriff said Monk's death appears to have been from natural causes. He was one of two people to have died in Santa Rita that day.
Both men suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, their families said. A total of 55 people have died at Santa Rita since 2014, an KTVU analysis of autopsies.