Florida man has stroke, veers off road; Unable to follow police commands due to…well, stroke; taken to jail, crawls on floor using only right-side limbs, taken to hospital a 36 hours later; dies

Allen Daniel Hicks Sr., a Tampa man who suffered a fatal stroke that went untreated for 36 hours as he languished in the Hillsborough County jail system. An investigation is underway of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Dept. as well as for-profit private prison contractor for egregiously mismanaging a man experiencing acute physical distress.

Hicks, 51, was arrested in May 2012 after veering off Interstate 275 in Tampa. He was booked into jail without a medical screening, rambling incoherently and dragging his left leg.

More than a full day passed — during much of which Hicks lay on the floor of his cell or tried to crawl using only his right limbs — before he was taken to Tampa General Hospital and immediately diagnosed with a severe ischemic stroke. He slipped into a coma and died months later.

None of the officers who were involved in the situation and failed to be able to differentiate a massive stroke for non-compliance have been disciplined at all nor have they lost their jobs.

Previtera said that Armor Health Services administrator Lewis Hays “offered misleading information as to the existence” of notes on Hicks’ care and that Hays and his assistant, Andy Sluka, “engaged in conduct that appeared to be intended to intimidate and coerce” a nurse who recognized Hicks’ stroke symptoms. Previtera ultimately revoked Hays’ and Sluka’s security clearances, removing their ability to work in the jail.

Previtera’s review also noted that a nursing supervisor, Petrina Rodriguez, denied getting a call from a nurse about Hicks’ condition even though “there is ample evidence to support (that) the call to the clinic was made.” A fourth Armor employee, Vera Reaves, “failed to properly assess Hicks’ medical condition,” Previtera found.

Hicks’ family has settled for $200k from the sheriff’s dept. and $800k from Armor Health Service. It seems as though both of those p places got off light consdirering the horror of what it must have been to suffer a massive stroke, be unable to communicate, and be tossed in a cell, left alone to crawl around on the floor using only the right side of your body.

This is one of the most egregious examples I’ve ever seen of cops letting their power go to their heads.