A woman whom Washington state authorities thought was drunk or high when they arrested her was actually suffering a life-threatening medical emergency and had to spend a day in jail without medical attention, according to a new civil rights lawsuit.
Nicole McClure reportedly spent a day lying on a jail cell floor suffering from a brain bleed after a Washington state trooper arrested her on suspicion of drunk driving nearly two years ago.
The Seattle Times reports that McClure filed a lawsuit this month in Tacoma against Thurston County, Thurston County Jail, and Washington State Patrol for negligence. In that suit, she claimed that officials mocked her and ignored her pleas for help during her jail stay.
The lawsuit, dashcam footage, and arrest reports reveal that Washington State Trooper Jonathan Barnes saw McClure, who was 38 at the time, driving too slowly and wandering out of her lane on March 21, 2022, so he attempted to conduct a traffic stop.
He flashed his emergency lights, but McClure kept driving until she ran into a traffic roundabout.
After the car stopped, Barnes approached McClure’s car with his gun raised, yelling at her to get out of her vehicle. Dashcam footage shows Barnes push McClure onto the hood of his car and accuse her of eluding police.
He also asked her leading questions to determine if she was drunk or high, like “When’s the last time you used meth?” and “When was the last time you used heroin?”
McClure answers, “I haven’t … I don’t. I’m confused. I think I’m tired.”
The complaint states that McClure said she was driving home after getting off work early and remembers suffering from a headache and dizziness.
While McClure was still restrained by Barnes on the hood of his car, Barnes accused her of trying to use a set of keys in her hand as a weapon when two other officers arrived on the scene. They were able to remove the keys from her hand. The lawsuit states she was grasping her keys in her left hand, and the left side of her body was affected by the brain bleed.
After Barnes detained McClure, he never called for medical assistance despite the collision and the fact that McClure vocalized that she was confused. He only took her to the hospital for a blood draw but not an evaluation or treatment. He never told hospital staffers that she was involved in a crash, and he crossed out a list of health and medical questions in his written report. Then he booked her into jail on suspicion of felony evading and intoxicated driving.
The blood draw test results revealed that McClure had no alcohol or drugs in her system.
McClure never received medical assistance at the jail either, even though she was vomiting, couldn’t stand up, and asked officials for help over her 24-hour detainment, according to the lawsuit.
At one point, officials even found her in a puddle of urine, according to her attorney.
“Nicole recalls being laughed at and told she should ‘Have another shot,’” McClure’s attorney Anne Vankirk said, adding that McClure thought she was being taunted.
She was taken to the hospital after spending the night in jail, where she had to undergo emergency brain surgery. Doctors reportedly had to remove part of her skull to relieve pressure building inside her brain from a frontal-lobe subdural hematoma.
She spent 17 days in the hospital after that surgery and now has permanent disabilities.
“Nicole suffers from severe traumatic brain injury and remains unable to care for herself or engage with life in meaningful ways,” Vankirk said in a statement to AP. “Had Nicole received immediate medical attention, her condition would have been significantly easier to treat and the outcome far less severe.”
A spokesperson for the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office told the Seattle Times the county was served the lawsuit.
“While we can’t discuss the specifics of any pending litigation, I can confirm that the safety of inmates, staff, and the general public remains a top priority for the Thurston County Corrections Facility,” spokesperson Tara Tsehlana said.
