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| Released inmate dies after staying in L.A. jail lobby for days |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 06/21/2004 |
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A diabetic amputee who was released from the county jail onto the streets languished for three days on a bench in the busy jailhouse lobby before he was noticed by deputies and rushed to a hospital where he later died. Gustavo Ortega, 50, died of coronary artery disease, with diabetes, chronic renal failure and hypertension as contributing factors, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday in its newspaper. Ortega, arrested March 1 for public drinking, had part of his right foot amputated in the jail ward at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center after his diabetes caused painful swelling. He returned to the jail and was released April 2 with a medical clearance and a pair of jail crutches. He told medical staff he had a doctor and that his family was coming to pick him up. Ortega, however, never called his family and neither did jailers. When his brother, Mike, arrived the following day to visit, he learned his brother had been released the day before to the streets. Ortega's family scoured downtown Los Angeles for two days searching for Ortega, who had such a poor memory that he used to forget his own phone number. Deputies notified the family on April 5th that they had found Ortega on a bench in the jailhouse lobby, where it appears he had been the whole time. He was so weak he could barely move. He asked, "Can you please give me a ride home?" deputies later told his family. The department said it followed procedures in releasing Ortega, but officials said he seemed to have slipped through the cracks in a system that processes up to 800 inmates a day. "It's a tragedy if we didn't observe him and the public saw him and didn't do anything," said Sheriff's Capt. Anthony Argott, who oversees the reception center. "This poor guy needed help." Argott said Ortega may have been overlooked because people often linger for hours in the busy lobby that is open 24 hours a day. Ortega's family recently asked the Board of Supervisors to investigate his death, triggering an inquiry by the Office of Independent Review, a civilian oversight agency that monitors the sheriff's department. Michael Gennaco, the former federal prosecutor who heads the review office, said the case would be looked into. |
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