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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Detainee Forgotten at DEA Office: Law Enforcement Source

    Detainee Forgotten at DEA Office: Law Enforcement Source

    Law enforcement source said a suspect was handcuffed and held in a small room for four days

    By Monica Garske
    Apr 29, 2012 | Updated 1:21 PM PDT

    The San Diego Drug Enforcement Administration is now investigating an incident regarding a suspect who was detained at their office for several days, allegedly forgotten about.

    A law enforcement source exclusively confirmed to NBC 7 San Diego that a college student was detained during a series of drug bust arrests on Apr. 21.

    He was handcuffed and held in a small room for four days at the Drug Enforcement Administration office in San Diego, according to a law enforcement source.

    A media representative from the San Diego DEA would not confirm specifics regarding the incident but did say that once the DEA became aware of the situation, they notified Emergency Medical Services to make sure the detainee received proper medical care.

    The DEA representative wouldn’t release the suspect’s identity.

    In an email sent to NBC 7 San Diego, the DEA representative confirmed: “The individual is not currently under arrest, and we plan to thoroughly review both the events and detention procedures on April 21st and after."

    Former federal prosecutor John Kirby said he’s familiar with the holding cells at the DEA office. He told NBC 7 San Diego that the rooms have no bathrooms and the suspect likely went without food or water.

    Given his familiarity with the DEA, Kirby said this incident is “inconceivable” because every detainee is processed, and it would be hard to get lost in the shuffle.

    “You talk about whether they might have done it intentionally, No way because somebody's career is done over this,” added Kirby.

    No further information is available at this time on the suspect’s current condition.

    Check back for updates on this exclusive developing story.

    Detainee Forgotten at DEA Office: Law Enforcement Source | NBC San Diego
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  2. #2
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    DEA 'accidentally' left forgotten suspect in cell

    Agency says he was found and taken to hospital, paramedics say that was 5 days later

    Written by
    Jeff McDonald
    2:59 p.m., April 30, 2012
    Updated 7:31 p.m.

    If you have information about this incident, contact Watchdog reporter Jeff McDonald at 619-293-1708 or jeff.mcdonald@utsandiego.com.

    A drug suspect was taken to a federal holding facility and “accidentally left in one of the cells” last month until he was found with methamphetamines and and taken to the hospital, the Drug Enforcement Administration said Monday.

    The suspect was “left” on April 21, according to the agency. The paramedics were called on April 25, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department confirmed.

    The DEA was not answering questions on Monday about what happened in the five days in between: Did the suspect have food and water and a toilet? How did he get methamphetamines while in custody?

    Spokeswoman Amy Roderick said such matters are under investigation. She promised a thorough review of detention procedures and the events of April 21 and after.

    The DEA said Monday that the suspect was one of nine people detained April 21 following a drug raid that yielded 18,000 ecstasy pills, marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, a Russian rifle, two handguns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

    Roderick said all of the detainees were brought to the DEA field office at an office building in Kearny Mesa, where they were questioned, fingerprinted and photographed.

    “Each suspect was interviewed in separate interview rooms, and frequently moved around between rooms and cells,” Roderick said.“All suspects were searched incident to arrest, but none were strip or body cavity searched.”

    She said seven suspects were brought to the county jail, one was released “and the individual in question was accidentally left in one of the cells.”

    The statement then skips to when the detainee was discovered.

    “When agents found the individual in question, they were told by the individual that he had used a white powdery substance that he found in the cell,” Roderick said. “The agents who found the young man in question called EMS, and field tested the substance, which tested positive for methamphetamine.”

    San Diego city paramedics were summoned to the San Diego DEA field office on Viewridge Avenue about 4:40 p.m. Wednesday.

    “Report was a 24-year-old man in a holding cell said he took white powder substance,” San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesman Maurice Luque said. “He was conscious. He was transported to Sharp in non-life-threatening condition.”

    The location of the raid was not provided. Roderick said the man admitted to being at a house “to get high with his friends.”

    The man is a student at the University of California San Diego. He was reported missing by his roommate last Friday, two days after he was taken to the hospital, UCSD police said. Campus police said the man notified officers on Saturday that he was OK and the missing-persons report was canceled.

    He offered no details about where he had been over the previous week, and simply wanted the missing-person case closed, UCSD Police Chief Orville King said.

    It is not clear whether the man will face any criminal charges related to the drug raid, but the DEA said he is not under arrest.

    DEA 'accidentally' left forgotten suspect in cell | UTSanDiego.com
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  3. #3
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Student "Forgotten" in DEA Custody Mulls Civil Suit: Source

    Sources say student detainee nearly died of kidney failure after several days in cell

    By Rory Devine, Lauren Steussy and Tony Shin
    Tuesday, May 1, 2012 | Updated 7:06 AM PDT

    A 24-year old UCSD student was left in the cell for five days without food or water, seemingly forgotten by the federal authorities who detained him. Local defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms talks with NBC 7's Tony Shin in this report.

    Detainee Forgotten at DEA Office...
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    A San Diego college student detained for several days in a county detention facility cell is seeking an attorney and may be considering filing a civil lawsuit sources tell NBCSanDiego.

    The 24-year old UCSD engineering student was left in the cell for five days without food or water, seemingly forgotten by the federal authorities who detained him.

    He was one of seven people detained after a Drug Enforcement Administration ecstasy raid in University City on April 21, according to a DEA statement.

    "The individual was at the house by his own admission," the DEA confirmed Monday.

    During the raid, authorities confiscated ecstasy, marijuana, prescription medication, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and a white powdery substance that was described as a synthetic hallucinogen. They also seized numerous weapons including a Russian rifle, handguns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

    "Seven suspects were brought back to county detention." One was released, but "accidentally left in one of the cells," a statement from the DEA read.

    The defendants were brought back to the DEA office after the raid and processed. The suspects were moved around the five cells at the detention facility during the proceeding. None were strip or body cavity searched, the DEA stated.

    A law enforcement source told NBC 7 that the student was handcuffed and held in a room no larger than the average bathroom.

    Sources say a worker at the DEA discovered the man by chance about five days later after hearing strange noises coming from the holding cells.

    When authorities with the DEA discovered that the student was still in the cell, they immediately called emergency medical services.

    In the cell, the detainee told authorities he found a white powdery substance, which he took, the statement said.

    Later testing revealed the substance was methamphetamine.

    Sources close to the student say he nearly died of kidney failure in Sharp hospital due to the dehydration he experienced. He was treated for several days and released.

    He is not currently under arrest, authorities with the DEA said.

    San Diego defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms says the victim could get millions if he files a lawsuit.

    "In all my years of practice I've never heard of the DEA or any Federal government employee simply forgetting about someone that they have in their care," she said.

    "There has to be repercussions if people do not follow the safety and the care when they have a human being in their custody."

    Former federal prosecutor John Kirby said he’s familiar with the holding cells at the DEA office. He told NBC 7 San Diego that the rooms have no bathrooms and the suspect likely went without food or water.

    Given his familiarity with the DEA, Kirby said this incident is “inconceivable” because every detainee is processed, and it would be hard to get lost in the shuffle.

    “You talk about whether they might have done it intentionally, No way because somebody's career is done over this,” added Kirby.

    Student "Forgotten" in DEA Custody Mulls Civil Suit: Source | NBC San Diego
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  4. #4
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Man abandoned in DEA cell steps forward

    Written by
    Jeff McDonald
    6:31 p.m., May 1, 2012
    Updated 7:16 p.m.
    Call: 858-224-2275
    Fax: 619-260-5094


    DEA statement: Thorough review promised

    Daniel Chong says he was left in a DEA holding cell without food and water for days. — K.C. Alfred

    An engineering student stepped forward with his lawyer Tuesday to say he was left alone in a federal holding cell for five days with no food or water, apparently forgotten by the federal drug agents who detained him.

    Daniel Chong, 24, a UC San Diego senior, said he was swept up in a Drug Enforcement Administration raid near campus and was taken to the Kearny Mesa facility. After questioning, he was told he would be released.

    Then the DEA left him locked inside a five-by-10-foot windowless cell.

    He screamed. He kicked madly at the door. He cried like a baby.

    Soon, Chong said, nothing made sense. He could hear agents chatting among themselves on the other side of the heavy door, and other detainees coming and going from holding tanks nearby.

    Days crawled by. No food. No water. No bathroom. He remembers biting his eyeglasses and using the broken shards to scrawl a note onto his left arm.

    “Sorry Mom,” he tried to write.

    The DEA acknowledged, in a statement to The Watchdog on Monday, that agents left someone in a cell after a raid on April 21 — until they found him and had to call paramedics. San Diego Fire-Rescue Department said that medical call came on April 25.

    At the raid, DEA officials said, they apprehended nine suspects and netted 18,000 ecstasy pills, three weapons and other drugs.

    “Seven suspects were brought to county detention after processing, one was released and the individual in question was accidentally left in one of the cells,” spokeswoman Amy Roderick said.

    Federal agents declined to respond to follow-up questions on Monday and no clarification was provided Tuesday.

    Their statement did not address how long the detainee was left alone, but San Diego Fire-Rescue said paramedics were summoned to the Viewridge Avenue administrative center at 4:42 p.m. Wednesday to transport a patient who was suspected of ingesting a white powder substance. The DEA said the substance tested positive for methamphetamine.


    Left behind


    Chong said the ordeal began hours after he went to some friends’ house on Friday night, April 20, to celebrate.

    Early the next morning, drug agents executing a search warrant at the University City residence burst through the door, and eventually took nine people into custody.

    At the DEA field office in Kearny Mesa, Chong said, he was handcuffed and left in a holding cell for about four hours. He was then moved to an interview room, where he was told he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and would be released shortly. One agent even promised to drive him home.

    He was then returned to a holding cell to await his release. The door swung closed sometime Saturday and didn’t open again until Wednesday. Chong said he was in one of the middle cells, with no toilet, no water.

    “I had to recycle my own urine,” he said. “I had to do what I had to do to survive.”

    Man abandoned in DEA cell steps forward | UTSanDiego.com
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  5. #5
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Student left in DEA cell to get $4 million from US
    13WHAM-TV - ‎4 hours ago‎
    SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The Justice Department has agreed to pay $4.1 million to a California college student left in a Drug Enforcement Administration holding cell last year, according to two people familiar with the case . . .
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  6. #6
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    $4M for student left in cell for 5 days

    “What happened to Daniel Chong should never happen to any human being on the face of the planet.”

    By Jeff McDonald11:08 A.M.JULY 30, 2013 Updated11:34 A.M.

    Daniel Chong at Tuesday's news conference. — K.C. AlfredDaniel Chong, the self-confessed pot smoker who was caught up in a drug sweep last year and nearly died after federal agents inadvertently abandoned him in a holding cell for five days without food or water, is now a millionaire.

    Attorney Eugene Iredale announced Tuesday he reached a $4.1 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, without even filing a lawsuit.


    “What happened to Daniel Chong should never happen to any human being on the face of the planet,” Iredale said.


    The incident made headlines across the globe and sparked a debate about drug policies in the United States.


    In addition to the cash payment, the lawyer said federal officials agreed to adopt new detainee procedures designed to make sure no one is left unwittingly in a holding cell again.


    Iredale said he also was told the temporary lockups inside the San Diego office have been equipped with cameras to allow agents to view what happens inside.


    The U.S. Department of Justice, which paid the settlement and absorbed all other liability from the local police agencies assisting in the sweep, declined Tuesday to discuss the events or the multimillion-dollar payment.


    The harrowing experience for Chong, 25, an engineering major at UC San Diego, began on a Friday night in 2012, when he admittedly went to some friends’ house in University City to celebrate April 20, a special date for marijuana users.


    Chong didn’t know it at the time, but the home had been under surveillance by a federal narcotics task force.


    Drug agents executed a search warrant early in the morning of April 21, Among other things, they found 18,000 ecstasy pills, marijuana and several weapons in the residence, according to court papers.


    The agents also found Chong sleeping on a couch in the front room and transported him and six others to the San Diego field office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for follow-up interviews.


    Chong said he answered all of the agents’ questions and they agreed to send him home without criminal charges. But instead he was returned to a temporary holding cell, where he spent the next four days without food or water. During the final two days of the ordeal, Chong was in complete darkness, he said.


    He has said he became delirious, drank his own urine, ate the broken shards of his glasses and used the glass to cut the message “sorry mom” in his own forearm.


    He said he kicked the door and screamed for help but agents never came to his assistance. DEA agents admitted later they “accidentally” left Chong in the cell and took the unusual step of apologizing publicly to the UCSD student.


    “When they finally opened the door, I was happy,” Chong said Tuesday. “I thought maybe they were going to take me to a mental ward. I was screaming.”


    Chong spent five days at Sharp Memorial Hospital in Kearny Mesa before he was able to return home.


    Although his lawyer said Chong still suffers from post-traumatic stress, Chong indicated he is doing better overall.

    “I’m pretty much recovered by now,” he said. “My kidneys are doing well. I can’t assume it was deliberate. I think it was what it sounded like — a really horrible accident.”

    Also, Chong said, he has changed his major — to economics.


    According to Iredale, the $4.1 million payout is not taxable. Under existing law, he also said, attorney fees are capped at 20 percent, so Chong will keep $3.28 million.


    Asked what he will do with the money, Chong said, “The given is buying a home for my family, but after that I’ll put it away.”


    Findings of an investigation of the case by the Office of the Inspector General’s Office of the U.S. Department of Justice have not been released.


    Iredale said federal investigators told him they do not plan to pursue criminal charges against any of the agents involved in the task force. Iredale singled out for the first time a San Diego Police Department officer who was the last person to see Chong before the cell was locked.


    “We’ll be back in a few minutes,” Iredale quoted the officer as telling Chong.


    Iredale said the federal government is stepping forward “to cover the malefactions of the San Diego Police Department.”


    A San Diego Police Department spokesman said the officer was under the command of the DEA at the time of the incident and declined to comment.

    http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/...se-settlement/
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