2023-11-18 02:32:31
The family of a Prince William County, Virginia, man filed a lawsuit once morest a South Carolina county jail alleging neglect and mistreatment led to their brother’s death.
Alan Thibodeau, who suffered from schizophrenia, lost nearly 80 pounds in five months of custody.
Body camera video obtained by attorneys for the Thibodeau family show Thibodeau naked, being repeatedly tasered as he lay on the floor.
The YouTube video submitted with the lawsuit also shows the day Thibodeau was found unresponsive in his cell. A jail staffer can be heard saying, “Please don’t judge us, y’all. We’ve been trying to deal with this man, but now he’s not responding real well, and I’m a little scared.”
Alan Thibodeau’s brothers, who live in Stafford County, Virginia, first learned their brother was in a Bamberg County, South Carolina, jail Feb. 14, 2022. He’d been arrested following he was found sleeping in a stranger’s home.
At first, his brothers were relieved. Just a few days earlier, they’d reported him as a missing person in Prince William County. Alan Thibodeau had left home without his cellphone and his medication for schizophrenia.
“There was a little bit of relief to realize that he was still alive and that he was now under the custody of somebody who might look following him rather than him just being gone,” said Larry Thibodeau.
That relief turned to shock and outright horror on July 11, 2022, when the family got the call that their brother had been rushed from the jail to the hospital unresponsive. When family members arrived at the Lexington Medical Center in Columbia, they were told Alan’s condition was grave.
“I didn’t even recognize him,” said Larry Thibodeau. “With my father passing from cancer, that progression, his look was similar. His eyes were sunk in, he didn’t look the same.”
Another brother, Ed Thibodeau, had a similar reaction.
“He didn’t look like my brother,” he said. “He had lost so much weight.”
Although Alan was 51, photos show a man who looked decades older. His eyes were dark and sunken. He’d lost nearly 80 pounds, his brothers said.
Alan Thibodeau died 12 days later of multisystem organ failure.
The hospital report revealed Alan was suffering from emaciation, severe dehydration, organ failure an ulcer on his sacrum and septic shock.
He never regained consciousness before his death, but his brothers said he opened his eyes for a moment to see them and his mother at his bedside.
“His last emotion was probably love, seeing all of us there rather than being inside the jail treated the way he was,” Ed Thibodeau said.
‘We want those folks accountable’
Lawsuits have just been filed once morest Bamberg County; Southern Health Partners, which provides medical care at the jail; and a nurse who worked there. The lawsuit alleges wrongful death, gross negligence and a violation of Alan Thibodeau’s civil rights, attorney Scott Evans said.
At Alan’s first bond hearing in February 2022, the judge ordered a mental health evaluation, his brothers say. That led to an order that Alan be transferred to a psychiatric facility.
His brothers say that never happened and they were told the jail was awaiting bed space. The family called the public defender frequently but were assured Alan was well, his brothers say.
But the lawsuit alleges Alan was never given medication for his mental health condition or his diabetes. He reportedly feared the jail staff was trying to poison him and refused food.
“During this time period, Mr. Thibodeau remained in an isolated cell where records indicate he spent the bulk of his time naked and covered in excrement,” the lawsuit alleges. “Additionally, during the time period in question, Mr. Thibodeau was commonly subjected to unreasonable and excessive force, including but not limited to the use of taser guns and chemical munitions.”
His brothers say his declining condition was ignored.
“It was clear that Alan wasn’t right. It was clear that he needed help. It’s clear he needed to be in the hospital,” said Ed Thibodeau. “I see red when I watch that video, and it makes me very angry.”
The brothers say they hope the lawsuit brings accountability and change in the way mentally ill prisoners are cared for and treated.
“This can’t go on,” said Ed Thibodeau. “The lawsuit that we’re pushing forward is going to say stop, here’s happening and we want those folks accountable.”
News4 contacted Bamberg County and Southern Health Partners for a response but has not heard back. The nurse named in the lawsuit was reached by phone but replied, “I have nothing to say.”
Thibodeau’s death is also the subject of an investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. That organization’s findings might be used to determine whether any criminal charges will be filed.
1700274833
#Virginia #family #sues #alleged #fatal #mistreatment #brother #South #Carolina #jail #NBC4 #Washington
