A 67-year-old man who was roughed up during a confrontation he had with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies who were evicting him from his rented residence in Upland on Tuesday died while in custody following the incident.
Kenneth Harold Wolfe had lived for some time at 279 W 11th Street, which is described as a 20-unit apartment/condominium complex not too distant from Upland High School. He had fallen behind on his payments, and foreclosure proceedings against him were initiated.
On Tuesday, August 23, 2022, a deputy with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Court Services Division served an eviction order to Wolfe.According to the sheriff’s department, “Wolfe refused to leave the residence and was arrested for disobeying a court order. Wolfe was transported to West Valley Detention Center where he was booked. Prior to being released with a citation and date to appear in court, Wolfe suffered an unknown medical emergency. Deputies and jail medical staff responded and began CPR. Fire and AMR personnel responded and ultimately pronounced Wolfe deceased.”
According to available information, Wolfe died at 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Sheriff’s deputies sought to assure the public that the ass-whuppin’ Wolfe had to be administered to persuade him to leave the 11th Street premises, which occurred several hours previously, had nothing at all to do with his death.
Detectives with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Specialized Investigations Division responded and are conducting the investigation. While investigators had hoped they would be able to turn up derogatories on Wolfe, he had no criminal charges or convictions against him in San Bernardino County.
The cause and manner of death are pending the autopsy to be performed on Wolfe.
The coroner’s office, which performs autopsies in San Bernardino County, is a division of the sheriff’s office.
-Mark Gutglueck