The family of an off-duty San Diego Police officer who was found dead outside a Riverside county jail hours after being arrested on suspicion of DUI has filed a wrongful death suit against Riverside County.
Lawrence David Orso of Murrieta collapsed on a curb 10 minutes after being released from jail, according to the complaint. Jail staff, according to the suit, ignored Orso’s complaints of chest pains and other signs he was not well and still intoxicated when he was released.
Riverside County sheriff officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The federal lawsuit alleges Riverside County sheriff officials failed to “establish policies, procedures and training” that could have prevented the officer’s death, and that jail staff were “deliberately indifferent” when they ignored his complaints of chest pains and pleas for help.
According to the complaint, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Riverside, Orso was arrested Sept. 21 on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Orso was arrested by a California Highway Patrol officer on Murrieta Hot Springs Road, near the 215 Freeway, according to the Press-Enterprise, and booked on a misdemeanor charge of DUI.
The 46-year-old was booked at the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center, also known as the Southwest Detention Center, in Murrieta, with a blood alcohol level of .23 — nearly three times the legal limit — and was taken to a nearby hospital to be evaluated at 3 a.m., less than an hour after his initial arrest, according to the complaint.
Orso was cleared by hospital staff and held for about 90 minutes in a sobering cell, according to the lawsuit.
But, according to the suit, Orso was not cleared by jail medical staff before he was released and, according to a toxicology report cited in the suit, still had a blood alcohol level of .102 when he died.
Jail staff, the suit alleges, also ignored that Orso was wearing a portable EKG monitor prescribed by his cardiologist and suffered from several heart ailments at the time. When he was released, according to the suit, Orso was “experiencing chest pain and visibly in medical distress.”
“Despite clear evidence of his serious medical condition, including the visible presence of the monitoring device, [jail] staff failed to take any appropriate steps to assess, monitor, or provide necessary medical care,” the suit alleges.
After collapsing on the sidewalk outside the jail, Orso remained unnoticed for about 40 minutes until a passerby found him. It was not clear from the lawsuit who declared Orso dead on the sidewalk.
“This egregious failure to notice and respond to a medical emergency unfolding in plain view reflects a clear breakdown in supervision,” the suit states.
