Alexandra Beier/Reuters
A video from 2016 released Thursday shows Oregon jail workers laughing and teasing a military veteran as he suffers an apparent drug overdose in a cell. Bryan Perry, who died hours after the video was taken, was detained in a padded cell at Clackamas County Jail following his arrest for a probation violation on Nov. 3, 2016, according to KOIN 6 News. Perry was reportedly experiencing symptoms consistent with methamphetamine use at the time. His family filed a lawsuit on Thursday accusing the jail workers of negligence and violating Perry’s rights in the hours leading up to his death. The suit claims nurses at the jail checked on Perry only twice, spending in total around five minutes with him despite his clear distress.
The suit goes on to state that Corizon Health Inc., which provides medical services for the jail, “has a nationwide pattern and practice of failing to properly treat inmates experiencing drug or alcohol overdose or withdrawal.” After hours in the cell, Perry was taken to Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital, where he died of cardiac arrest. Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said in a statement, “The laughter, substance and tone of several comments heard from my employees in that video were inappropriate and do not conform to our professional standards.” Two of the people heard in the video have been disciplined, and the third resigned before an internal investigation. Perry, 31, served in the U.S. Army during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was honorably discharged and received a Purple Heart.