SAN JOSE - A lawsuit alleging wrongful death against Monterey County and multiple law enforcement officers was filed on April 2 in San Jose federal court.
The case was filed by the estate of Rafael Ramirez Lara and individual plaintiffs Patricia Ramirez, Rafael Ramirez and Jennifer Ramirez as surviving family members.
The family says that the defendants failed to provide their deceased loved one the medical care he needed while he was incarcerated in the Monterey County Jail. According to the suit, Lara suffered from untreated schizophrenia, and died in a pool of his own vomit after compulsively drinking an unsafe amount of water.
Lara's signs of mental distress were apparent while he was incarcerated, including striking his head against a wall, reporting voices in his head and fracturing his hand while punching a window, the suit says. Despite this, he either did not receive medical attention or the medical attention was inadequate, the suit says.
Law enforcement and jail staff officers named in the suit include James Bass, Sheriff Steve Bernal, Johnathan Thornburg, Ray Tongol, J. Trejeda, Kip Hallman, Jorge Dominicis, Thomas Pangburn and Paul Francisco.
The defendants are charged with deliberate indifference to serious medical needs, failure to protect from harm, deprivation of substantive due process rights and wrongful death.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Rifkin Law Office.