An Aptos man who died while waiting to be booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence Saturday morning had a heart attack, the Coroner's Office reported.
Rickey Pritchard collapsed in the booking are of the jail on Water Street in Santa Cruz around 6:38 a.m. Saturday.
"He was sitting quietly, had just been fingerprinted," Lt. Jeremy Verinsky, Main Jail commander, said.
Cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia caused by thrombotic occlusion of a coronary artery, with contributing factors of coronary arteriosclerosis and hypertensive and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Outside contributing factors were ruled out; he had not been in a car crash, detained with force or stunned with a Tazer, according to Verinsky. Also, Pritchard had a family history of heart disease.
"It could have happened anywhere, anytime," Verinsky said.
