Pubdate: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 Source: Omaha World-Herald (NE) Copyright: 2001 Omaha World-Herald Company Contact: World Herald Square, Omaha, Ne., 68102 Website: http://www.omaha.com/ Forum: http://chat.omaha.com/ Author: nathan odgaard FATHER FILES COMPLAINT WITH POLICE IN DEATH An Omaha man whose son died from a drug overdose less than an hour after being released from police custody says police should have sought medical attention for him. Roy Lee Reynolds Sr. is filing a wrongful death complaint with the Omaha Police Department, alleging officers were negligent in not taking his son to the hospital to get his stomach pumped. Reynolds said his fiancee contacted the department's internal affairs unit Friday about setting up an appointment to discuss the complaint. Reynolds, other family members and friends believe police officers knew that his son, Roy Lee Reynolds Jr., had swallowed crack cocaine when they searched him and his vehicle during a traffic stop at 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 28. A police spokesman said officers suspected he swallowed drugs, but no concrete evidence existed that justified taking him to the hospital. Police found the younger Reynolds, 24, unconscious in his car at 3:20 a.m. Dec. 29 near 46th Street and Redman Avenue. He had been released from Central Police Headquarters at 2:30 a.m., said Sgt. Dan Cisar. A pedestrian who saw Reynolds having a seizure had flagged down a police cruiser. Reynolds was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Douglas County Coroner Tom Haynes said autopsy results show Reynolds died from an overdose of cocaine. Reynolds Sr. said he believes his son swallowed the drugs to avoid arrest the night before he died. "They should have taken him to the hospital and got his stomach pumped," he. said. Tiffany Filhiol and another man were with Reynolds when police stopped him. Filhiol said Reynolds had crack in his possession at the time. Neither she nor the man saw Reynolds put crack into his mouth, Filhiol said, but police suspected Reynolds had something in his mouth. Filhiol said Reynolds was patted down and his vehicle was searched. After no drugs were found, police tried to get Reynolds to "spit it up," she said. "They said 'Spit it up. Cough it up. We know you got it,'" Filhiol said. Cisar said Reynolds' actions had led police to check inside his mouth. Police had been conducting surveillance on Reynolds, who was convicted in 1999 of possession of cocaine, that night after receiving a tip, he said. Police applied a training technique to get Reynolds to open his mouth, Cisar said. They looked inside and found no drugs or traces of drugs. Police took Reynolds and the two others to the city jail, where Reynolds was strip-searched. While in a holding cell, Reynolds told Filhiol an officer told him police would take him to the hospital to have his stomach pumped. Filhiol was released before Reynolds. She said she learned the next day that he had died. Cisar said Reynolds was ticketed for driving on a suspended license and obstructing a police officer, and he was released at 2:30 a.m. Reynolds Sr. said his son's girlfriend picked him up from jail. Fifty minutes later, Reynolds was found unconscious several miles north of his house on Valley Street. "They didn't take him to the hospital," Filhiol said. Cisar said police did everything in their power to ensure Reynolds' well-being. Had police known Reynolds swallowed drugs, they would have taken him to the hospital, he said. He said police asked Reynolds on four different occasions if he had swallowed drugs. He told them no each time, Cisar said. "Mr. Reynolds had the responsibility to help himself" if he did swallow crack, Cisar said. "We were more than willing to take care of him if he admitted it. As it stands now, we did everything we were supposed to do." Haynes said autopsy results did not reveal how the cocaine entered Reynolds' system. Only traces of food were found in his stomach. This is not the first time Reynolds Sr. has accused the police of wrongful death. In 1995, Reynolds Sr. said he held an Omaha police officer responsible for his ailing wife's death. He said an officer failed to seek help for his wife, Sharon Pierro, after her morphine-dosing machine broke down. Pierro, who had cancer, died the next day. "She shouldn't have died that soon," Reynolds said. "It hurts every time I see a police officer. He shouldn't have done us like that." World-Herald staff writer Karyn Spencer contributed to this article. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe