The family of a U.S. postal worker who died from a massive stroke after his symptoms were ignored by police and jail staff for over five hours have filed a federal lawsuit against Minnesota authorities.
Officers reportedly watched as Kingsley Fifi Bimpong writhed around in a pool of his own urine on the floor of a jail cell until he was “cold to the touch and foaming at the mouth,” the suit, obtained by The Independent, claims.
Bimpong was stopped by police on November 16 after driving the wrong way down a road and striking a curb with his vehicle. He had just left the Eagan Postal Distribution Center after complaining of a headache.
No proper examinations were conducted to determine if the 50-year-old was suffering from a medical emergency or a drug overdose, the lawsuit claims.
The suit names Eagan police officers Joseph Moseng, Martin Jensen, and Liam O’Shea, multiple Dakota County correctional officers, and Dakota County itself.
According to the lawsuit, upon his arrest Bimpong appeared very confused, and could not answer questions including what his name was, what city he was in, or who the current president was, and “demonstrated an inability to follow simple directions.”
He could also not say where he worked, despite still wearing his UPS vest. Officers noted at the time that there was no smell of alcohol or other evidence of drug use.
In addition, Jensen, who was a specially trained Drug Recognition Evaluator, was called to assess whether Bimpong was under the influence of drugs, or suffering a medical emergency.
The lawsuit alleges that Jensen did not complete his assessment properly or fully, and allowed Bimpong to be taken to the Eagan police station instead of for medical treatment. He was arrested for DWI.
Bodycam audio allegedly captured Jensen saying that a full DRE exam, around 30 to 45 minutes, would be “a whole bunch of time wasted,” and when asked by another officer if Bimpong should be taken to hospital, he responds “for what?”
He was later taken to Dakota County Jail and placed in a holding cell where he collapsed, urinated on himself and writhed around on the floor. Despite guards repeatedly walking past the cell for over three hours, no intervention was made.
“It was only when Kingsley was on death’s door that Jail and medical staff entered his cell,” the lawsuit states. Bimpong was found “with the pallor of a corpse,” and medical interventions failed when he was eventually taken to hospital.
He was later declared brain dead at United Hospital due to a “intracerebral hemorrhage of the left cerebral hemisphere” – also known as a hemorrhagic stroke. Members of his family, some of whom reside in Ghana, ultimately decided to remove him from life support and Bimpong died on November 19.
“For Kingsley, every minute of deliberate indifference over the course of 5 hours and 40 minutes compounded and resulted in his death,” the lawsuit stated.
“Regardless of the underlying cause of Kingsley’s serious medical needs, each individually named Defendant witnessed that Kingsley was exhibiting obvious and serious physical and cognitive abnormalities that required urgent medical attention.”
The Independent has reached out to the Eagan Police Department and Dakota County Jail for comment over the lawsuit.
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