PORT ORCHARD — A Kitsap County Jail inmate with ties to Jefferson County has died at Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton after being found by sheriff’s corrections officers unconscious in his cell.
Eric Orville Waldenberg, 49, was listed as a Kingston resident but also had an established address in Jefferson County, according to the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office.
Waldenberg was found unconscious and unresponsive in his cell at 8:57 p.m. Saturday by an officer conducting a periodic security check, said Deputy Scott Wilson, spokesman for the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.
Waldenberg had created a way to strangle himself using issued inmate property, Wilson said.
Corrections officers performed emergency first aid in an attempt to revive Waldenberg, he said.
A South Kitsap Fire and Rescue medical aid crew arrived at the jail at 9:05 p.m. and continued emergency treatment.
Waldenberg was transported to Harrison where emergency department medical staff declared him dead at 9:56 p.m.
The Kitsap County Incident Response Team was called in to investigate Waldenberg’s death.
The investigation was led by a Bremerton Police Department detective sergeant, assisted by investigators from the Port Orchard Police Department and the State Patrol.
An autopsy will be completed by the Kitsap County forensic pathologist to determine the cause and manner of his death.
Waldenberg has an extensive criminal history in the region.
According to court documents, Waldenberg has been convicted of more than 20 felonies, including a 2010 burglary in Port Hadlock.
In July 2012, Port Townsend Police said he was caught in the act of taking more than $9,000 in equipment from Port Townsend Golf Club.
By Waldenberg’s request, he was tried by a Clallam County judge, and he was convicted in December 2012.
He was in the Kitsap County Jail after he was arrested by Poulsbo police Feb. 22 and booked into jail for investigation of second degree burglary.
On Feb. 23, the state Department of Corrections served a warrant for Waldenberg for a previous escape from community custody.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
