ELLSWORTH — A woman arrested Sept. 21 in Bucksport on drug possession charges has been transferred to a Bangor hospital after attempting suicide at Hancock County Jail, according to Sheriff Scott Kane.
Kane said Tuesday that the inmate, Monica Johnson, was not being kept on suicide watch at the jail when she attempted to take her own life Saturday night because jail staff had no reason to believe she was suicidal. She was in her assigned cell with the rest of the jail’s female population when the incident occurred, he said.
Kane said Johnson was in the intensive care unit at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center as of Tuesday morning. He declined to comment further, saying that the incident is being investigated by Maine State Police, which is standard procedure for jail suicides and suicide attempts.
Johnson, 38, is one of five people arrested in separate drug busts in Bucksport and Orland on Sept. 21.
An attempt Tuesday to contact Johnson’s husband, Stewart Carney, was unsuccessful.
To reach a suicide prevention hotline, call 888-568-1112 or 800-273-TALK (8255), or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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