A has filed a federal lawsuit against the county and a national inmate transportation company claiming his own blood and feces froze to his body during a 10-day saga from New Mexico to Colorado.
The inmate also has named Prisoner Transportation Services, Correctional Healthcare Companies and more than 30 people individually as defendants in the lawsuit.
His Denver attorneys, David Lane and Michael Fairhurst, are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a formal apology.
During a 10-day extradition trip in a van between Albuquerque and Golden in March 2014, the lawsuit alleges, the defendants burned the inmate’s eye with cigarette butts, arbitrarily Maced him in the face and forced him to sit in blood and feces.
“The air was so cold at times during the extradition that human waste and blood froze to (his) clothing,” the lawsuit says.
During the trip, the van floor was covered with vomit, urine and the remnants of Mace, the lawsuit alleges.
At times, there were not enough seat belts to secure inmates, who were restrained by handcuffs, ankle chains and waist chains. When the inmate who sued complained, the lawsuit says, the driver purposely stepped on the brakes hard, throwing him from his seat and causing him to strike hard surfaces of the van. Guards also would threaten to kick in his teeth or would hold Mace inches from his eyes if he didn’t stop complaining, according to the lawsuit.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or @kirkmitchell or denverpost.com/coldcases
