A 26-year-old man collapsed and died Friday at the La Plata County Jail, according to the Coroner’s Office.
Vicente Lucero, along with other inmates, was let out of his cell Friday morning to mingle in a common area of the cell block.
Not long after being let out, Lucero collapsed, said La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith.
Jail staff performed CPR, administered a defibrillator and rushed Lucero to Mercy Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about 7:30 a.m., Smith said.
His body had no obvious signs of trauma; an autopsy occurred Friday afternoon, Smith said.
Lucero was being held on suspicion of burglary and assault. He made news last week after someone reported he was walking naked and threating to kill people in the 8100 block of County Road 203, north of Durango in the Animas Valley.
Deputies responded and found Lucero walking naked near county roads 202 and 203. A deputy called out to him, but Lucero ran into a woman’s house and locked the door. A 70-year-old woman inside the house fled to the backyard.
Lucero chased her into the backyard, where he grabbed her and threw her against a post, resulting in multiple injuries requiring hospitalization, according to the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.
He then ran out of the house and fled to Hermosa Creek, where he sat in the middle of the creek for 20 minutes before deputies took him into custody.
On Friday, Lucero’s family said he suffered from manic depression and bipolar disorder. He had a rough month in October: His mother suffered a stroke in Denver and his medication was changed up, said his wife, Rosa Lucero.
Other than mental health problems, Vicente Lucero was in good physical condition, she said.
So she questions the cause of his death. She asked that he be moved to a mental health institution rather than having to stay at the jail, she said, and she couldn’t afford to pay his $25,000 bail.
“I just want answers,” she said.
He didn’t smoke, drink or do drugs. He loved God, and always carried a Bible, she said.
“He’s a good, wonderful playful person,’ Rosa Lucero said. “He had a heart of gold. Every time I was sad he would try to make me laugh.”
The Durango Police Department is investigating the jail death. Any time an in-custody death occurs, the sheriff’s office requests assistance from an outside agency.
shane@durangoherald.com
