Pubdate: Thu, 03 May 2012
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Kate Mather

STUDENT FORGOTTEN IN JAIL CELL FOR 5 DAYS

Talk about a bad trip. It started when Daniel Chong, a 23-year-old UC 
San Diego student, spent a night with friends to mark April 20, which 
some pot aficionados consider something of a holiday. It ended with 
an ordeal behind bars.

The Drug Enforcement Administration apologized Wednesday to Chong, 
who was accidentally left in a holding cell for five days and 
reportedly drank his own urine to survive.

San Diego attorney Gene Iredale said his client was "still 
recovering" from the ordeal.

"He is glad to be alive," Iredale said of Chong. "He wants to make 
sure that what happened to him doesn't happen to anyone else."

Late Wednesday, Chong's attorneys filed a $20-million claim against 
the DEA. A claim is a precursor to a lawsuit.

News of the incident came to light when Chong told a San Diego 
television station he spent nearly a week in the cell without food, 
water or access to a toilet after an April 21 raid on a house in San Diego.

The DEA, which identified Chong only as "the individual in question," 
said the 23-year-old and eight others were swept up during a raid of 
a suspected Ecstasy distribution operation where agents found guns, 
ammunition, 18,000 Ecstasy pills and other drugs.

The nine suspects were taken to a DEA area headquarters, where they 
were fingerprinted, photographed and interviewed, the agency said.

After processing, seven were taken to a county detention facility and 
one was released.

Chong, the agency said, was "accidentally left in one of the cells." 
He told NBC San Diego he kicked the door "many, many times" in a 
futile attempt to get agents' attention.

When they finally found Chong, he was taken to Sharp Memorial 
Hospital, where he spent five days.

Iredale said Chong, who was close to kidney failure and had trouble 
breathing, spent three of those days in the intensive-care unit.

Chong also suffered hallucinations and "thought he was going insane," 
Iredale said.

Chong told NBC San Diego he tried to kill himself by breaking his 
glasses and cutting his wrists.

"I didn't care if I died," he told the station. "I was completely insane."

William R. Sherman, acting special agent in charge of the DEA'S San 
Diego Division, apologized in a statement Wednesday and said he had 
ordered "an extensive review" of DEA policies and procedures.

"I am deeply troubled by the incident that occurred here last week," 
Sherman said. "I extend my deepest apologies [to] the young man and 
want to express that this event is not indicative of the high 
standards that I hold my employees to."

The DEA said Chong told agents he had been at the house that was 
raided "to get high with his friends" and later admitted that he used 
a white powdery substance found in his cell that tested positive for 
methamphetamine.

Iredale confirmed Chong had stayed with friends the night of April 20 
to "celebrate" the day heralded by many marijuana aficionados "in the 
typical way by smoking some pot."

But the attorney said the meth found in the cell was not his client's 
and was there before his arrival.

Chong has not been charged.

Sherman said the agency planned to look at "both the events and the 
detention procedures on April 21 and after."

A statement from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-calif.) said she sent a letter 
to U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. asking for an "immediate and 
thorough" Department of Justice investigation into the matter.

"After the investigation is completed, I ask that you please provide 
me with the results and the actions the department will take to make 
sure those responsible are held accountable and that no one in DEA 
custody will ever again be forced to endure such treatment," she wrote.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom