Days before Lucas Bellamy died in a Minnesota jail, a doctor who had treated him following his arrest had warned guards to return him to the hospital if he developed any concerning symptoms, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed this week.
The 41-year-old began feeling sick and vomiting within hours of returning to his Hennepin County Jail cell on July 18, 2022, the lawsuit’s complaint stated. Then he began refusing food, and by the night of July 20, 2022, he was crawling around in his cell as a guard and nurse stood by, surveillance footage provided to The Washington Post shows.
At about noon the next day, Bellamy was found lying face down in his cell and he was pronounced dead less than an hour later, the complaint stated.
Bellamy — who had been arrested for fleeing police in a suspected stolen vehicle — had told jail staff that he swallowed a bag of drugs during the chase, according to court records. He spent most of his time in jail twisting in pain, crawling on all-fours and refusing to eat. After repeatedly begging to be taken to a hospital, Bellamy was provided with an anti-acid for his acute pain, according to the lawsuit, which claims Bellamy’s death could’ve been prevented had he received proper care.
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“Lucas Bellamy endured unimaginable pain and suffering,” said Jeff Storms, an attorney representing Bellamy’s family. “Lucas should be here today with his family, and he is not because of the deliberate indifference exhibited by those who were charged with caring for him.”
The lawsuit accuses Hennepin County and Hennepin Healthcare System of negligence, and it alleges that more detainees have died at the jail since 2015 than at any other detention center in Minnesota over the same timespan. Between 2015 and 2021, at least 10 deaths were recorded in the jail, according to an investigation by NBC-affiliate KARE 11 — which also alleged a pattern of improper well-being checks on inmates.
When reached by The Post, both Hennepin County and Hennepin Healthcare declined to comment due to pending litigation, but both offered condolences to Bellamy’s grieving family.
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Bellamy’s sister, Sarah, said the family is also calling for an independent investigation into Hennepin County Jail. The family argues in the lawsuit that Bellamy should have been returned to the hospital as soon as the distressing symptoms arose.
“I hope to God that we can prevent someone else’s son, or daughter or loved one from the neglect and abuse that Lucas suffered,” Sarah told The Post. “And I hope that we can drive some change here in Minnesota, which is plagued with so many problems of inequity and injustice.”
Bellamy was known among family and friends for his charisma, acting talent and willingness to lend a helping hand. The 41-year-old father also had a penchant for inviting anyone — strangers, friends and homeless alike — for a meal at his parent’s home, said Louis, his father and founder of the Penumbra Theater in Saint Paul.
“He shared his food with them. He shared just life and advice with them. Lucas was very smart and very savvy,” said Colleen, his mother. “If only he could have helped himself, but that was not the case.”
Ever since he was 16, Bellamy struggled with addiction, first to alcohol and then to opioids, his family said. For much of his adult life, he’d been in and out of treatments centers — and though they’d work for a while, “there were the times that he fell off; and, ultimately, that led to his being stopped by the police,” Colleen said.
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On July 18, 2022, Bellamy led police on a high-speed chase after an officer tried to pull him over, court records state. According to an arrest report, Bellamy told police he had fled because there were drugs in the car. He had ingested one bag containing an unknown amount of opioids, which prompted the jail to send him to Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, where he was sedated and monitored for three hours before being returned to the jail, the lawsuit stated.
Share this articleShareThe physician who treated Bellamy noted that he should return to the hospital’s emergency department “for any new concerning symptoms,” according to a medical chart cited in the complaint.
Roughly nine hours after returning from the hospital, Bellamy began feeling sick and vomiting — something jail staff attributed to possible withdrawal syndrome. Though Bellamy requested Narcan — the brand-name drug for naloxone, which is used to treat opioid overdoses — and “met the criteria for Narcan distribution under jail policy,” the lawsuit alleges the medication was never dispensed for him. He was moved to a private cell and began refusing food.
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By July 20, his condition appeared to take a turn for the worse.
That night, he crawled in and out of his cell and lay facedown on the floor as a guard and nurse stood by, surveillance footage shows.
“I need to go to the hospital,” a nurse reported Bellamy said, according to the lawsuit. “I need IV liquid.” Though video shows he could barely stand — and collapsed before reaching the table he was directed to sit at — the suit states that staff noted on Bellamy’s chart that he could “sit up and sit still.” His abdomen was not examined, the lawsuit alleges, and his temperature not taken.
Hours later, around 1:30 a.m., Bellamy allegedly called a guard on the intercom screaming, “help me, help me.” Bellamy was found curled up in a fetal position, begging to be taken to the hospital. A nurse noted in his chart that Bellamy “was kneeling while his head is on the floor and crying when checked,” according to records cited by the lawsuit. Although his pulse and blood pressure were elevated, Bellamy was not sent to the hospital, the lawsuit stated.
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Around 8:40 a.m., another nurse visited Bellamy’s cell, where he was still curled up in distress. She gave him a portion of Maalox — a medication used to treat upset stomachs — which was mostly spilled on the floor as Bellamy struggled to hold the cup on his hand, surveillance video shows.
By noon, Bellamy had collapsed on the floor. After a guard spotted him lying facedown and unresponsive, medical staff rushed in and tried to revive him. But it was too late. An autopsy showed he died of “peritonitis due to a duodenal perforation,” meaning an infection spurred by a hole in his small intestine, according to the lawsuit.
“This is an easily treatable problem when timely addressed, and Lucas would have lived if any of the Defendants... would have provided Lucas with timely and proper medical care rather than ignore his serious medical needs,” the lawsuit claimed.
What hurts the most, according to Louis, Bellamy’s father, is that “the hospital is literally right across from the jail, and somehow they couldn’t take my son there.”
Sarah, his sister, said the family hopes their lawsuit will draw attention to how the incarcerated — especially those struggling with addiction — are treated.
“We’re not dismissing the fact that Lucas was arrested for a reason,” she said. “But what we are saying is that incarcerated people have human rights, civil rights that must never never be transgressed or dismissed.”
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