A new lawsuit claims that Kingsley Fifi Bimbong, a Minnesota postal worker who died in police custody after suffering a stroke in November 2024, showed clear warning signs that were ignored by police and jail staff.
The Oct. 8 lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, names three Eagan, Minnesota, police officers, seven Dakota County correctional officers, and Dakota County as defendants. It claims that Bimpong’s constitutional rights were violated.
Bimbong’s family seeks $120 million in damages and policy reforms at the jail.
According to the lawsuit, Eagan police, Dakota County, and its correctional officers showed “deliberate indifference” to Bimpong’s medical needs during the five hours and 40 minutes he spent in custody, CBS News reports.
By the time he was taken to the emergency room, the 50-year-old man had suffered a massive brain bleed that proved fatal.
“This is one of the worst jail deaths we’ve ever seen,” Katie Bennett, an attorney representing Bimpong’s family, told KARE 11.
According to the lawsuit, Bimpong left work
early on Nov. 16, 2024, after complaining of a headache and was later pulled over by Eagan police for driving into oncoming traffic. Body camera footage cited in the filing shows that Bimpong “exhibited serious physical and cognitive abnormalities.”Police reports indicate that when questioned, Bimpong was unable to say where he lived or worked, despite wearing a USPS vest, and repeatedly responded, “I don’t know.” Officers also noted there was no smell of alcohol.
Eagan Officer Martin Jensen, a certified Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE), was called to determine whether Bimpong was under the influence of drugs. The lawsuit notes that DRE training provided by the Minnesota State Patrol instructs officers explicitly on how to differentiate drug impairment from medical emergencies such as strokes; however, the lawsuit claims Jensen ignored that training.
Body camera audio reportedly captured him dismissing the need for a complete DRE evaluation, saying it would be “a whole bunch of time wasted.” When another officer asked whether Bimpong should be taken to the hospital, Jensen allegedly responded, “For what?”
Bimpong was arrested and taken to the Eagan Police Department for a blood draw. While there, the lawsuit states he “stumbled,” “remained confused,” and at times “nodded off to sleep.” An emergency medical provider at the station reportedly asked officers if they planned to take him to the hospital, but one officer dismissed the idea, saying, “It’s a whole thing.”
Instead, Bimpong was transported to the Dakota County Jail. During the drive, the officer was caught on body camera starting to say, “Is this dude having a stro—” before muting the device.
While in jail, surveillance footage shows Bimpong stumbling and unable to complete booking before being placed in a holding cell, where he fell, urinated on himself, and lay writhing on the floor. According to the lawsuit, guards repeatedly logged “inmate and cell OK” during required wellness checks and walked past his cell for more than three hours without intervention.
The lawsuit says that a nurse was finally
called after a guard noticed Bimpong foaming at the mouth and having seizure-like symptoms. Mistakenly assuming a drug overdose, the nurse administered Narcan three times with no effect. When paramedics arrived, Bimpong’s blood pressure was a life-threatening 240/216, signaling a hypertensive crisis. Body camera footage later captured staff acknowledging that wellness checks had not been adequately conducted.Body camera footage captured a nurse and guard admitting that Bimpong had been ignored and that wellness checks weren’t properly done. As he was loaded onto a stretcher, the guard recounted what had happened earlier to the nurse.
“He said, ‘he’s been that way all night, not to worry about it,’” the guard told the nurse.
The nurse replied, “That’s not OK.”
“Well,” the guard responded, “this person (the other guard) is not checking when he’s doing rounds. He’s just walking by and scanning.”
Bimpong was rushed to the hospital. Tests revealed a massive brain bleed that caused severe brain swelling, and he was declared brain dead before being taken off life support on November 19, 2024.
Toxicology reports from both the hospital and the state crime lab also confirmed no drugs in his system, disproving the overdose assumption.
“While Mr. Bimpong’s death is tragic, he was not exhibiting an objectively serious medical condition that was obvious to lay persons at the time he was in the Eagan officers’ custody and there [was] no indication that he required emergent medical treatment,” the City of Eagan said in a statement.
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