How else do you explain a person almost dying in custody without being charged with a crime, and no one being held accountable?
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 25-year old college student has reached a $4.1 million
settlement with the federal government after he was abandoned in a windowless
Drug Enforcement Administration cell for more than four days without food or
water, his attorneys said Tuesday.
The DEA introduced national detention standards as a result of the ordeal
involving Daniel Chong, including daily inspections and a requirement for
cameras in cells, said Julia Yoo, one of his lawyers.
Chong said he drank his own urine to stay alive, hallucinated that agents
were trying to poison him with gases through the vents, and tried to carve a
farewell message to his mother in his arm.
It remained unclear how the situation occurred, and no one has been
disciplined, said Eugene Iredale, another attorney for Chong. The Justice
Department's inspector general is investigating.
"It sounded like it was an accident — a really, really bad, horrible
accident," Chong said.
Chong was taken into custody during a drug raid and placed in the cell in
April 2012 by a San Diego police officer authorized to perform DEA work on a
task force. The officer told Chong he would not be charged and said, "Hang
tight, we'll come get you in a minute," Iredale said.
The door to the 5-by-10-foot cell did not reopen for 4 1/2 days.
Justice Department spokeswoman Allison Price confirmed the settlement was
reached for $4.1 million but declined to answer other questions. The DEA didn't
immediately respond to a request for comment.
Detective Gary Hassen, a San Diego police spokesman, referred questions to
the DEA.
Since attorney fees are capped at 20 percent of damages and the settlement
payment is tax-free, Chong will collect at least $3.2 million, Iredale said.
Chong, now an economics student at the University of California, San Diego, said
he planned to buy his parents a house.
Chong was a 23-year-old engineering student when he was at a friend's house
where the DEA found 18,000 ecstasy pills, other drugs and weapons. Iredale
acknowledged Chong was there to consume marijuana.
Chong and eight other people were taken into custody, but authorities decided
against pursing charges against him after questioning.
Chong said he began to hallucinate on the third day in the cell. He urinated
on a metal bench so he could have something to drink. He also stacked a blanket,
his pants and shoes on a bench and tried to reach an overhead fire sprinkler,
futilely swatting at it with his cuffed hands to set it off.
Chong said he accepted the possibility of death. He bit into his eyeglasses
to break them and used a shard of glass to try to carve "Sorry Mom" onto his arm
so he could leave something for her. He only managed to finish an "S."
Chong said he slid a shoelace under the door and screamed to get attention
before five or six people found him covered in his feces in the cell at the
DEA's San Diego headquarters.
"All I wanted was my sanity," Chong said. "I wasn't making any sense."
Chong was hospitalized for five days for dehydration, kidney failure, cramps
and a perforated esophagus. He lost 15 pounds.
The DEA issued a rare public apology at the time.
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican, on
Tuesday renewed his call for the DEA to explain the incident.
"How did this incident happen? Has there been any disciplinary action against
the responsible employees? And has the agency taken major steps to prevent an
incident like this from happening again?" he said.
___
Caldwell reported from Washington.
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