Female visitor inadvertently locked overnight at California jail

A woman attempting to visit an inmate last weekend at the Theo Lacy detention facility in Orange was inadvertently locked overnight in a jail visiting area, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed.

Sheriff’s officials did not disclose the identity of the woman, who was described only as being in her 30s.

The woman was at the maximum-security jail to visit an inmate on Saturday and was directed to a public visiting area for the barracks section of the facility, confirmed sheriff’s spokesperson Carrie Braun.

Braun said the inmate the woman wanted to see was unavailable and she fell asleep in a visiting booth while waiting. No one noticed the woman when the area was closed at 5 p.m. She was not discovered until the area was reopened the next morning at 8 a.m.

Braun said the woman was immediately treated for a laceration to her hand, but she would not disclose how the woman sustained the cut.

Security cameras inside the waiting area can only be monitored from the guard station inside the room, which was not manned overnight, Braun said. There is no phone inside the visiting waiting area. The woman was not allowed by state law to bring her cellphone into the jail.

The woman was in an area not freely accessible to inmates.

An internal investigation is underway to determine how the woman was locked inside and whether any procedures or policies need to be changed, Braun said. One immediate change has already been made — a supervisor must check the area at least once during overnight hours.

Additionally, an emergency phone will be installed in the waiting area.

“This unfortunate incident should never have occurred,” Braun said. “The department is committed to fully investigate and ensure this never happens again.”

Theo Lacy has a maximum capacity of 3,442 inmates, according to the sheriff’s website.