VAN BUREN -- The Crawford County sheriff attributed a jail inmate's death Saturday to a drug overdose.
Sheriff Jimmy Damante released some preliminary facts concerning his department's ongoing investigation into the death of Jacob Allen Jones, 26, of Van Buren via the sheriff's office Facebook page Wednesday.
The state medical examiner confirmed a bag of drugs Jones reportedly swallowed before coming to the jail broke open in his stomach, triggering an overdose, Damante said. However, the sheriff's office won't know what type of drugs Jones took until it receives toxicology reports.
"The man who died was arrested by Van Buren police on an outstanding warrant," Damante said. "Camera video shows that, after the suspect was arrested and placed in the back of the cruiser, he removed a bag of drugs and swallowed them in an effort to conceal the drugs. He was booked into the jail and died hours later."
Damante said Monday that Jones had a medical emergency at the jail Saturday. A deputy went to check on Jones after he didn't come up to get his tray during a scheduled feeding time and tried to resuscitate him.
Despite Jones reportedly having a slight heartbeat when he was loaded into an ambulance, he was pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to Damante. Jones' body was then sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for examination.
Jones had been booked into the jail Friday afternoon on two counts of failure to appear and one count of obstructing governmental operations, according to the sheriff's office online inmate roster. He was being held on a bond totaling $50,240.
Damante also released the Van Buren police vehicle footage he described in his statement Wednesday.