Stanislaus County inmate deaths 2009

Three inmates have died this year in custody at the Stanislaus County downtown Modesto jail after Tasers were used to subdue them.

• APRIL 11 — Craig Prescott, 38, of Modesto was in an altercation with jailers as they tried to move him from the general population to a safety cell. The jailers used Tasers and pepper spray to subdue him. Prescott stopped breathing, was unresponsive and was taken to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. At 11:20 a.m. April 13, Prescott was declared dead after doctors turned off life-support machines.

• AUG. 26 — Modesto police officers used a Taser to keep Manuel Dante Dent, 27, of Modesto from swallowing a baggie believed to be filled with drugs. Dent was taken to Doctors Medical Center, where he was medically cleared before he was booked at the jail. About 6 a.m. Aug. 27, Dent was lying on the bed in his cell when jailers found him unresponsive. Dent was then taken by ambulance to DMC, where he was pronounced dead.

• WEDNESDAY — Alton Warren Ham, 45, of Oklahoma was exhibiting irrational and combative behavior. Jailers began moving Ham to a safety cell, and he started to put up a struggle. The jailers used a Taser to subdue him and put him in the cell. Medical staff were with Ham when he became unresponsive and tried to resuscitate him, but Ham was pronounced dead at the jail at 2:38 p.m. Wednesday.