Officers sued for failing to save meth user’s life

Boundary County and the Bonners Ferry Police Department are being sued for more than $1 million by the family of a 42-year-old man who swallowed meth during a traffic stop in 2005 and died of a drug overdose after being booked into jail.

In a federal court suit, Dale A. Young’s family alleges law enforcement officers and jail staff failed to recognize that Young was suffering the effects of an overdose and weren’t prompt in seeking medical attention.

Young was pulled over by Bonners Ferry Police on June 24, 2005, and swallowed a quarter-ounce of meth in a plastic wrapper to keep police from finding it. He was fearful of being sent back to prison for violating probation, family members said.

Attorneys for the Bonners Ferry Police Department denied any wrongdoing in court papers filed Thursday.

Boundary County Prosecutor Jack Douglas cleared Boundary County in connection with Young’s death in 2005 following an investigation by Idaho State Police.

Following his arrest, Young told jail staff that he had swallowed drugs and wasn’t feeling well, the suit alleges. He was shaking uncontrollably and had to have jail staff dial his home phone number, the suit says.

Moments later, the jail contacted a Bonners Ferry officer who took Young to the hospital, the suit alleges.

By not calling 911 or providing emergency medical care, the suit alleges that the actions of the jail staff “produced torture or a lingering death.”

In a response filed Thursday, attorneys for the Bonners Ferry Police Department denied that Young was exhibiting symptoms of a drug overdose or that he told jail staff that he had swallowed meth and didn’t feel well.

It wasn’t until Young � who was on the phone with his wife � handed the phone to a jail deputy that they learned he had swallowed drugs, the response said.

Terri Young reportedly said, “You have to take him to the hospital, he just told me he took a bunch of stuff.”

An officer responded to the jail within five minutes and took Young to the hospital, the response said. Calling an ambulance would have only further delayed treatment, they contend.

Young died at the hospital the morning following his arrest.