Homeless tuberculosis patient jailed for refusing treatment
ASSOCIATED PRESS
1:30 p.m. August 24, 2007
LODI – Police arrested a homeless man infected with tuberculosis they fear may have exposed others when he refused to follow proper treatment procedures for the contagious disease.
Bobby Presley, 48, was booked into an isolation cell Thursday at the San Joaquin County Jail, where he will be treated until public health officials clear him for release, according to an arrest warrant.
He was being held in lieu of $252,000 bail on suspicion of violating his treatment orders and several drug charges.
Test results will determine whether Presley has a drug-resistant strain of the lung disease, officials said.
Presley was screened for tuberculosis in April as a condition for staying in a Sacramento shelter. In May, tests confirmed he was positive, but shelter managers couldn't find him.
Presley was taken to Lodi Memorial Hospital on Aug. 10 after police served him with isolation orders. While at the hospital, Presley left his room several times and had to be forced to take his medications, hospital staff said.

Information from: Lodi News-Sentinel, www.lodinews.com