The family of Kingsley Bimpong filed a wrongful death suit against Eagan and Dakota County police in federal court after officers arrested the man for intoxication when he was having a stroke.
KSTP reports the 50-year old man left work early on November 16, 2024 with a headache and blurred vision. On the way home, he turned his car into oncoming traffic, crashing into the center median.
Police at the scene noted that Bimpong had aphasia and weak muscles, which they assumed was due to drugs.
But just to be sure, the officer requested a Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE) to check him.
DRE protocol involves a 12-step evaluation to determine a person's cause of impairment, which includes a check for vital signs and three separate checks for pulse. However, when [Sgt] Moseng requested this evaluation, [DRE officer] Jensen only partially completed three of the steps and did not take Bimpong's pulse once, the complaint alleges.
The evaluator signed off on probable drugs and asked for a warrant to get a blood test. When EMS arrived to get the blood test, they recommended Bimpong be taken to the hospital.
Body camera footage even shows the arresting officer worried that the man might be having a stroke, but then things get odd:
Body camera footage captures Moseng suggesting several times that Bimpong was in medical distress, but at every turn, Jensen refused to perform a full evaluation or call for an ambulance. The complaint alleges the officers muted their body cameras at various points, including one instance in which Jensen muted his device in the midst of Moseng bringing up the possibility of a stroke.
'Before you got there, I was like, "Is this dude having a stro — ,'" Moseng said before the audio cuts off.
Six and half hours later when Bimpong was lying in his cell unresponsive and cold to the touch, they finally decided to take the poor man to the hospital.
An autopsy revealed he died of an intracerebral hemorrhage, and a toxicology panel was negative for any substances that might cause impairment.
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