Red Bluff Daily News
RED BLUFF, Calif. — A 30-year-old inmate was found dead early Saturday morning in the Tehama County Jail during a routine hourly security check.
William Lee Hawthorne, Jr., of Red Bluff was found hanging from a bed sheet that was tied off to the railing of a top bunk, a Tehama County Sheriff’s release said.
Hawthorne had been alone in his cell at the time of the incident, which is believed to have occurred between 2:18 a.m. and 3:18 a.m.
He had been seen sleeping in his bed when officers checked him at 2:18 a.m., the release said.
Hawthorne, who was arrested with his girlfriend, Mandy Reane Occhipinti, 31, about 11 a.m. April 27, had been booked for a Red Bluff Police case on charges of second-degree robbery and obstructing or resisting a public officer.
He was arrested at the Crystal Motel after he allegedly brandished a knife while trying to steal prescription medication from another man and a woman at the hotel.
He ran from police, dropping a folding knife as he ran.
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