An incarcerated Santa Barbara man died Thursday night after being found unresponsive in his cell at Santa Barbara County’s Main Jail and transported to a local hospital, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Custody staff conducting routine 15-minute welfare checks found Jonathan Lundahl, 65, unresponsive in his single-person cell at approximately 4 p.m. on January 22, Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Raquel Zick said in a media release issued Friday.
“There were no signs of trauma,” Zick said.
Firefighters and paramedics responded, and Lundahl was transported to an area hospital, where he later went into cardiac arrest. Despite life-saving efforts, Lundahl could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at approximately 11:11 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Office.
“Preliminarily, this death appears to be the result of natural causes; however, a full death investigation is underway to determine an official cause and manner,” Zick said. An administrative investigation is also being conducted, in accordance with department policy.
Lundahl had been in custody since September 2025. According to court records, he was arrested by the Sheriff’s Office on September 24, 2025, on a felony allegation of elder abuse. He was scheduled to return to court on February 11, 2026.
Court records show Lundahl was the defendant in multiple related proceedings, including a criminal misdemeanor case alleging cruelty to an elder or dependent adult and civil actions involving emergency and long-term protective orders. In October 2025, a judge granted an elder abuse restraining order against Lundahl, set to expire in October 2028.
The criminal case remained active at the time of his death, with Lundahl having entered a not-guilty plea. He had a readiness conference scheduled the day before he was found unresponsive.
The Sheriff’s Office did not release additional details about Lundahl’s medical condition or whether he had underlying health issues, citing the ongoing investigation.
