Lincoln County will pay $2.85 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of an inmate with mental illness who died behind bars in 2015.
Bradley Thomas' naked, lifeless body was found inside a county jail cell roughly two weeks after the Waldport resident was booked on misdemeanor charges.
Autopsy results showed that Thomas, 55, suffered from significant dehydration before his death on April 8, 2015, the lawsuit claimed, and that he had stopped eating and drinking while in custody.
The suit also alleged that jail supervisors and staff identified that Thomas suffered from a severe mental illness and had documented his deteriorating condition, but failed to provide for his basic needs, including medication or mental health treatment.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken approved the settlement on Oct. 19 between the county and Thomas' family, which filed the federal lawsuit in Eugene.
"This case shows there is a price to pay when jails treat the mentally ill as disposable," said Jennifer Middleton, an attorney for the Thomas family.
In a published statement, the county said it was "taking the tragic death of Mr. Thomas very seriously and will continue to enhance training for all staff in an effort to greatly reduce the risk of this occurring again."
Authorities booked Thomas into the Lincoln County Jail on March 23, 2015, on suspicion of menacing and harassment. Almost immediately, deputies noted in written reports Thomas exhibited behaviors consistent with mental illness, the suit said.
Jail records showed that his illness was so severe that he had placed his food in the toilet and was seen naked in his cell, scooping feces from the toilet and wiping it on the bowl and sink. At times, he licked areas in the cell smeared with the feces, attorneys Middleton and Thomas Melville wrote in the lawsuit.
He began to refuse food on April 2.
One day before he died, a Lincoln County judge ordered Thomas committed to the Oregon State Hospital for up to 180 days due to his mental illness, according to court records.
Jail staff checked on Thomas throughout the evening and found him lying naked on the floor beside his bunk, but did nothing, the lawsuit said.
He was found dead in his cell the next morning.
-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh
skavanaugh@oregonian.com
503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh