[gatagato]

SAN DIEGO – 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.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/30/ju...ent/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarce...f_Daniel_Chong
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/31...#ixzz2abuTf49w

FILE: May 1 ,2012: This photo shows Daniel Chong at a news conference where he discussed his detention by the DEA in San Diego.

[Sharon]

How awful being forgotten like that. Least he got a great payout to aid him in his recovery, has to be said!

[kellyhound]

stupid cops. of course this fuck up gets paid by the taxpayers

[bigjoe]

It should be paid out of each departments pension fund.

[DEWBZ]

Whatever, he had something to do with those drugs and now instead of getting the mandatory minimum sentence(for each pill), he's getting millions. Something wrong with this country I say

[Faline]

[Darkest Angel]

Man, a 4 day vacation PLUS a fat payday!

[Megamel29]

Originally Posted by Gaydolf Shitler ↗

Whatever, he had something to do with those drugs and now instead of getting the mandatory minimum sentence(for each pill), he's getting millions. Something wrong with this country I say

Maybe, maybe not. It is possible that he went there to buy pot and his dealer just happened to also sell ecstasy. There may be information in other articles that says otherwise. I'm not sure. But even if he was guilty of the ecstasy pills, prisoners are supposed to be fed daily.

[gatagato]

He was never charged with any crime, and there was NO reason to keep him under custody,
(he was told he could go home and one agent even offered him a ride) much less to lock him into a 5 by 10 feet with no water, no food and no windows. Without even knowing when and IF that nightmare will end. At some point he thought that he was going to die that way (which was what actually was happening, as he was eventually treated for dehydration, near-failure of his kidneys, and a perforated lung from eating broken glass in a desperate suicide attempt), three days in intensive care.
WTF, a federal law enforcement agency that arrests nine people, then sends seven of them to the jail, one at home and FORGETS about the ninth? For 4/5 days? Perhaps they should review their procedures

[Iliketurtles]

At first i was like..lock me up for 4 days for 4 million..until i seen that he had no food or water..fuck that