A senior deputy with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office died Thursday evening, the sheriff’s office said. The cause was complications related to COVID-19.
Deputy Oscar Rocha, 57, had been in critical condition in an area hospital’s intensive care unit for nearly three weeks, and had worked most of his 25-year career in either the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland or the Santa Rita Jail.
The sheriff’s department had seen at least 40 deputies test positive for the novel coronavirus recently while more than a hundred inmates at Santa Rita have tested positive in an ongoing outbreak.
In a social media post, the sheriff’s honor guard paid tribute to Rocha, saying, “RIP brother, you’ll be greatly missed.”
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
