- The lawsuit alleges that Lucas Bellamy, 41, died of a perforated intestine after being ignored by prison staff at a Minnesota prison.
- Bellamy endured severe pain for several days and had to crawl on the floor of his cell, begging to be taken to hospital.
- A lawsuit has been filed against Hennepin County and Hennepin Healthcare for inhumane treatment of Bellamy.
Minnesota prison officials ignored the pleas of a 41-year-old man who died of a perforated intestine after spending days begging to be taken to a hospital, leaving him in so much pain he had to crawl on the floor of his cell. It is said that The lawsuit was filed Tuesday.
According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis against Hennepin County and Hennepin Healthcare, Lucas Bellamy was “treated as if he were a subhuman animal.”
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, which operates the jail, offered written condolences to the family, but declined to comment on the lawsuit because it was recently filed and is still ongoing. Hennepin Healthcare said in a statement that it does not comment on pending litigation.
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It all started on July 18, 2022, when Lucas Bellamy fled from police in a suspected stolen car and was arrested on suspicion of possessing brass knuckles, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Members of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office pictured on May 12, 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office runs the jail, and employees ignored the pleas of a 41-year-old man who died of a perforated intestine after days of begging to be taken to the hospital, according to the lawsuit. be done. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Upon entering the jail, he told staff he ingested a bag of drugs and was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, also known as Ho Chi Minh County, according to the complaint. He was returned to prison under observation and with instructions to return to the emergency department if he developed any concerning symptoms.
The Bellamy family's attorney, Jeff Storms, showed news media a video of Lucas' interactions with nurses and prison guards. The final footage showed him just behind his cell door slowly moving his lower body around before finally standing still and dying.
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Her father, Louis Bellamy, a director who founded the Penumbra Theater in St. Paul, said at the press conference that he had seen tragedy on stage. But he said, “I couldn't have built something more callous and disrespectful to humanity, to human existence, than what I witnessed on that tape.”
The suit claims Bellamy's death is one of 15 people who have died at the prison since 2015, eight of which occurred within the past two years. The group claims that inmates' health tests are substandard, as was the case with Bellamy.
Storms said he is asking Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to investigate.
“Mr. Lucas could have been saved had he received proper treatment,” the lawsuit said. “Instead, he died enduring a real-life nightmare.”
