I was an inmate in Santa Rita Jail (SRJ), the County Jail for Alameda County, housed in Housing Unit (HU) 2, Pod D. I was released this past week. On July 7, 2020, when I was housed in HU 34, Pod F, I found what appeared to be three small, dark brown pellets that seemed to be mouse or rat feces in the bottom of my paper cup at lunch (around 12:40PM). There was a faint red trail going down the side of the cup into the bottom of the cup (where the pellets were). After I found this, I notified a deputy, and the deputy just told me to “throw it away and get a new lunch.” I then pressed the call button to speak with a sergeant or lieutenant regarding this issue. No one answered. Then, a sergeant walked by my pod, and I asked him six or seven times if I could speak with him. This sergeant kept ignoring me. So, since no one responded to my requests to speak with someone about the feces, I decided to wrap up these three pellets in a plastic bag to keep them preserved as evidence. I also submitted a grievance on this issue, but the grievance response came back “Resolved” because I was told I could get a new lunch. But I do not consider this situation to be resolved.
So, since no one responded to my requests to speak with someone about the feces, I decided to wrap up these three pellets in a plastic bag to keep them preserved as evidence. I also submitted a grievance on this issue, but the grievance response came back “Resolved” because I was told I could get a new lunch. But I do not consider this situation to be resolved.
I sent the sample of these pellets that I preserved to the Law Offices of Yolanda Huang at 528 Grand Avenue, Oakland. I asked to have these pellets tested to confirm that these are rodent droppings.
Before I found the mouse feces in my lunch cup, I was already feeling lethargic and a lack of energy. Ever since I found this mouse feces in my lunch cup, I was scared to eat the food at the jail. If I didn’t look in my lunch cup that day, I fear I could have easily swallowed the mouse feces. After the incident, I was afraid to eat the food, particularly since the guards and the sergeant didn’t seem to care. It is not just about getting a new lunch, because any meal, or every meal could have feces in it. It just happened that I caught it that one time, so getting a new lunch does not change the fact that the kitchen has mice.
After the incident, I was afraid to eat the food, particularly since the guards and the sergeant didn’t seem to care. It is not just about getting a new lunch, because any meal, or every meal could have feces in it. It just happened that I caught it that one time, so getting a new lunch does not change the fact that the kitchen has mice.
Since finding the feces, I lost around ten pounds. I am five feet ten inches tall, and I now weigh 155 pounds, down from 165 pounds. The food in Santa Rita Jail is unsanitary and is unsafe, so I rarely ate any of it, except for drinking the milk, or eating the occasional apple, or hard boiled egg, foods that could not be contaminated and would be less subject to sanitation problems in the jail kitchen. When I spoke to Jenna on October 26th at 11:30AM, for example, the last thing I had eaten was an apple the evening before. And although I was drinking the milk, that was often hit or miss. Often, the milk was spoiled and sour, and so I had to throw it out.
The food in Santa Rita Jail is unsanitary and is unsafe, so I rarely ate any of it….The beans were thrown away mostly because we were all afraid of what’s in the beans, and were afraid to eat them. The beans are also thrown away partly because the beans taste so bad. I wanted safe and sanitary food. The inmates in Santa Rita Jail want safe and sanitary food.
I tried to buy commissary items when I could, but times are tough for my family right now, especially due to the pandemic, so I couldn’t afford much commissary food. The commissary is expensive. The commissary food isn’t even that good for you anyway – it’s mostly snack food and is high in salt and additives. So, sometimes I bought chips and traded the chips that I could afford from commissary in exchange for some extra jellies, fruit, and hard-boiled eggs to get some nutrition in me.
Most of the jail food was cooked beans, and most of the guys threw the beans away. The beans were thrown away mostly because we were all afraid of what’s in the beans, and were afraid to eat them. The beans are also thrown away partly because the beans taste so bad. I wanted safe and sanitary food. The inmates in Santa Rita Jail want safe and sanitary food.