Mother sues over son’s death in jail

Costa Mesa police and medical personnel are responsible for the death of a Huntington Beach man who died days after collapsing while in custody last year, according to a lawsuit to be served to city officials in the coming days, the lawyer representing the man’s mother said Tuesday.

At about 3:20 p.m., Sept. 1, 2007, Costa Mesa police pulled over 45-year-old Donald Kurtz because he was driving erratically and failed a field sobriety test, authorities said days after the arrest. When police put him in a holding cell, they noticed he had become unresponsive soon after, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 10 with Orange County Superior Court. Medical personnel responded and rushed Kurtz to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where he slipped into a coma and died three days later. Coroners determined he died from a brain aneurysm.

Kurtz’s mother, Dolores Foley, is suing for unlimited damages alleging that the Costa Mesa police were wrong to arrest him and Costa Mesa medical personnel with the fire department had reason to provide emergency medical attention sooner than they did.

Mary Alexander of Mary Alexander & Associates law firm in San Francisco said her client is seeking a jury trial should it go that far.

She said attorneys at the Jones & Mayer law firm, which represents the city and did not immediately return calls for comment, should soon be served with the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, when Kurtz attempted to perform the field sobriety test, he could not maintain his balance because of undiagnosed bleeding in the brain. Kurtz told officers he had recently taken pain medication, which the lawsuit said was likely to treat the discomfort from the undiscovered bleeding in his brain. An officer on the scene performed a Breathalyzer test on Kurtz, who registered no blood-alcohol level, according to the lawsuit. It adds that authorities likely arrested Kurtz under the assumption he was under the influence of drugs.

As the lawsuit reads, Kurtz was put into a temporary holding tank, where he laid down and became unresponsive to officers, who then called Costa Mesa paramedics. Medics found Kurtz had an elevated heart rate, in the 90s, and drew blood to see if he had any drugs in his system, according to the lawsuit. With results pending, medics took him to the hospital, where he was admitted at 6:22 p.m. Blood results soon showed his blood was clean of controlled substances, according to the lawsuit.

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian physicians diagnosed Kurtz with a brain hemorrhage, and he lapsed into a coma. He died Sept. 4.

In the lawsuit, Foley alleges that authorities failed to use the degree of care a reasonable person in that situation would have used and failed to seek medical attention in a timely manner.

Attorneys are waiting for the city’s response, Alexander said.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].