NEED TO KNOW
- An Oregon family filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Aug. 6 against the City of Coos Bay and several police officers
- The parents of 33-year-old Nathan Bradford Smith are accusing them of negligence, abuse of a vulnerable person and “deliberate indifference” for allegedly leaving him in a car in July 2024 as he was suffering from a meth overdose
- One police officer, Benjamin Martin, is accused of responding to an intimate text about “snuggles” and liking several TikTok videos inside the police station as Smith was left in the car
An Oregon family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Coos Bay and three Coos Bay Police Department officers.
According to the federal lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, Aug. 6, the officers allegedly ignored signs that 33-year-old Nathan Bradford Smith was suffering from a methamphetamine overdose in the back of a parked patrol car while an officer inside the station responded to personal text messages and watched TikTok videos.
The complaint — obtained by The Oregonian, KOIN and KGW — claims that officers Benjamin Martin, Tristan Smith and Wesley O’Connor ignored signs that Nathan was suffering from the drug overdose when he was arrested on July 7, 2024, and failed to get him immediate medical care.
The family accuses the officers of negligence, abuse of a vulnerable person and “deliberate indifference.” They are seeking unspecified damages.
An attorney for the City of Coos Bay did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, Aug. 9.
Nathan — who reportedly had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder — was pronounced dead at a Coos Bay hospital after Martin found him unconscious in the car, according to the suit. His cause of death was listed as “hyperthermia due to methamphetamine intoxication,” and Nathan’s “multiple layers of heavy clothing” may have contributed to his overheating, per the suit.
According to state police investigation records obtained by the local outlets, Coos Bay police had three encounters with Nathan on the day of his arrest for alleged disorderly conduct.
Officers took a meth pipe from Nathan during an unrelated investigation at around 11 a.m., per the state police investigation. At 3 p.m., police were called to another business after bystanders reported that a man was screaming and scaring customers outside. The officers warned him at the time that they would arrest him if someone made another report about his behavior. At around 5 p.m., three officers were called to a Motel 6, where someone reported a man lying on the sidewalk.
Nathan was on his back in the shoulder of the road, and he was dressed in a heavy coat and rain pants. Officers told him he was under arrest, handcuffing him on the ground after he did not stand up. His breathing was “loud and somewhat labored,” according to a state police officer who reviewed body camera and dash camera footage of the incident.
Nathan struggled to get into the car, and the suit stated that his eyes were closed as he gasped for air. Martin then began driving, before pulling over to spray air freshener into the back of his car.
At 5:10 p.m., Martin began driving again and arrived at the Coos Bay Police Department three minutes later. State police reported that he left the windows closed and went inside. It was 65 degrees on the day of the incident, per The Oregonian.
While inside the station, Martin then responded to a text message obtained by investigators that stated: “I’m so ready for snuggles I feel like i haven’t seen you in a week.” He also liked a number of TikTok videos during this time.
After Nathan was left alone in the car, Martin returned from the station and found Nathan unconscious. Footage taken from inside the police car showed Nathan breathing in an “odd pattern,” and his head eventually tilted back.
Martin then administered a dose of Narcan, which is used to combat drug overdoses, and the police officer then called an ambulance, according to state police.
When they arrived at 5:24 p.m., paramedics found that Nathan had a temperature of 107 degrees and rushed him to Bay Area Hospital. He later went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m.
“Had officers taken Mr. Smith directly to Bay Area Hospital from Motel 6 or called an ambulance to the scene, emergency department staff would have had over 40 minutes to stabilize Mr. Smith prior to the time he suffered cardiac arrest,” the suit says of Nathan.
No criminal charges resulted from the investigation into the incident, state police said.
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“When these officers found him, he was clearly showing the signs of medical distress and what we know when he finally did get to see a doctor is that his temperature was 107. He was hyperthermic, and he was going to die. And unfortunately, he did,“ the suit’s lead attorney Juan Chavez, with the Oregon Justice Resource Center, told KGW. “There was a 40-minute delay in getting him critical medical assistance.”
“I believe at least one of these officers had encountered him earlier in the day and understood that he was using substances at that time and that he was likely facing mental and physical health issues at that time,” Chavez added. “He had the opportunity at that moment to be taken to a hospital that was a mile away, and instead, he was put into the back of a police car.”
Nathan’s father, Kurt Smith, told the The Oregonian that his son had been living at the motel, and Kurt had visited with his son just one week before his death. Police later came to the father’s work and informed him of Nathan’s death, but did not share any details. He found out his son’s cause of death from the funeral home.
“He didn’t deserve to just be left to die,” the father added.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
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