CORTEZ, Colo. (AP) — An attorney has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in connection to the 2013 death of a Navajo man at the Montezuma County jail.
The Cortez Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1MCuAEB ) Russell Sacks filed the complaint last week, claiming that a lack of adequate health care contributed to the death of 38-year-old Harrison M. Begay, of Tonalea, Arizona. The suit names several defendants, including Montezuma County commissioners, former Sheriff Dennis Spruell, hospital staff and five detention officers.
Authorities had said Begay died of “natural causes from chronic use of alcohol.”
Begay was initially brought to the jail on a trespassing charge on Oct. 26, 2013 but was taken to a hospital because he was “highly intoxicated.” He was returned to jail and found dead in his cell the next day.
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Information from: Cortez Journal, http://www.cortezjournal.com/
