Man Dies in Jail for Misdemeanor Pot Possession

According to RT:

Almost 18 months after a Washington man who turned himself in to police for a misdemeanor drug charge died in custody new video footage has surfaced that appears to contradict the authorities’ claim that his death could have been avoided.

Michael Saffioti died in jail Snohomish County, Washington on the morning of July 3, 2012. He had turned himself into police the day before after missing a court date on misdemeanor charges for pot possession.  A lawsuit filed by his family last month claims that Saffioti was denied adequate and timely medical care, leading to his death. 

Saffioti was severely allergic to dairy and, on a new video made public this week, is shown speaking with a guard with a tray of food in his hands. The 23-year-old is then shown taking a few bites of oatmeal. The video, hosted by the local news, can be found at KIROTV.com. 

Within a few minutes he is back at the guard’s desk breathing through his inhaler. The legal claim says he asked for a nurse only to be sent back to his cell. Over the next half hour inmates can been seen looking into Saffioti’s cell as he jumped up and down. 

A guard found the young man unconscious in his cell 35 minutes after he ate the oatmeal. Saffioti was pulled from the cell as nurses arrived to perform CPR. Firefighters then arrived and rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead approximately a half hour later. 

Cheryl Snow, the attorney representing Saffioti’s mother Cheryl, said this was not Michael’s first trip to county lockup and the staff certainly had his medical records on file. The complaint, which is seeking damages totaling $10 million, said Michael’s health problems were so well known in the jail that he was dubbed “Bubble Boy” on a previous visit. 

“Our theory is that they absolutely knew about Michael’s medical needs,” she told KIRO-TV in Washington. “We know that he asked questions and made inquiries and he was assured the oatmeal in the food was safe for eating. The video shows Michael clearly made his needs apparent, that his needs were ignored. Once he suffered distress he was further ignored.” 

Sick bastards did it on purpose....