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The U.S. District Courthouse in Springfield, Mo., where Paul Espinosa filed a lawsuit against officials at the Greene County Sheriff’s Office (Google Maps).
A Missouri man who was wrongly arrested for DWI while he was exhibiting symptoms of a stroke is suing the sheriff’s office for not getting him the medical treatment he needed.
In a complaint filed in federal court in April, Paul Espinosa, 54, claimed that while he was arriving at the parking lot of the Amazon Warehouse in Republic, Missouri, where he worked, he was pulled over by Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Winchell. Winchell claimed that Espinosa’s car was “weaving,” and the deputy suspected he was driving while intoxicated. Espinosa agreed to a field sobriety test, including a Breathalyzer test, which yielded a reading of 0.000% — indicating there was “no trace of alcohol in his system,” the lawsuit states.
However, Espinosa showed signs of “swaying” during other parts of the test, and Winchell arrested Espinosa on suspicion of DWI. Espinosa was put in the back of Winchell’s vehicle and transported to the jail. Espinosa began “sweating profusely” during the transport, despite the car’s air conditioning running throughout the trip. Upon their arrival at the jail, Espinosa’s “motor skills were declining,” the lawsuit states.
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As Espinosa was being booked — and consenting to a blood test — his condition continued to deteriorate, according to the complaint. Minutes after his arrival, Espinosa began to lose his balance, his speech began to slur, and he became “confused with simple instructions.” According to the lawsuit, all of these symptoms became more pronounced.
Espinosa was brought to a holding cell, where he remained until two officers noticed he was slumped over. A nurse was called in and asked Espinosa if he knew what was happening, and he allegedly replied, “No.” She took his blood pressure and heart rate and reported that his pupils were “sluggish and non-reactive,” according to the complaint.
Espinosa was then left alone in the holding cell.
He remained at the jail for a total of seven and 1/2 hours until 2 a.m. when he was escorted by a courtesy car driven by a booking officer to a nearby hospital for “unstable health conditions.”
When Espinosa arrived at the hospital, the booking officer allegedly lied to hospital staff, saying that police found Espinosa in his car in the parking lot, and “the police did not feel that he looked right and was having trouble speaking when they tried to talk to him,” the lawsuit states.
Hospital staff diagnosed Espinosa with a cerebral stroke and immediately transferred him by ambulance to another hospital for more intensive care, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit claimed that Espinosa went blind and “suffers from other impairments” as a result of the delay in getting medical attention, caused by the “intentional denial” on the part of the Green County Sheriff’s Office authorities.
Espinosa is suing the sheriff’s office for medical negligence and deliberate indifference. He and his wife are asking for a jury trial and punitive damages.