Day’s lawsuit filed is at least the fourth current suit alleging mistreatment of inmates in the jail.
>> EARLIER: Inmate pepper sprayed in chair files suit
Day’s attorney said that from the time of the Nov. 26, 2015, accident through his stay in the jail for a low-level misdemeanor charge that was ultimately dismissed, Day was given just a Tylenol pill.
“They started asking me questions about what happened, and I guess I wasn’t answering in the correct form,” Day told this news organization in an exclusive interview. “I was asking them for what, what’s the reason I’m going to jail for? I’m in pain. I clearly couldn’t even walk to the (cruiser).”
Surveillance video from the jail sally port and booking area appears to show Day, 36, of Dayton, struggling to walk.
“I was just hoping once I got down there, I would get some kind of medical attention,” Day said. “I know I was doing a lot of yelling from the pain and, because of that, I got sent to a psych ward.”
Attorneys Michael Wright and Dwight Brannon filed the suit. The defendants named include Trotwood police Sgt. Kim DeLong, Trotwood police officer Kevin Wagner, the city of Trotwood, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer, the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, EMT Jack Saunders, jail medical provider Naphcare Inc. and various Jane and John Does.
“We believe that his rights were violated and that he suffered when he should not have suffered,” Wright said about allegations against DeLong and Wagner. “(Day) should have went directly to the hospital as opposed to being taken to the jail.”
Plummer recently demoted Maj. Scott Landis to captain and removed Landis from commander of the jail division for "documented inappropriate and unprofessional comments he made during a meeting involving jail staff."
“Something has to change over there,” Wright said. “There has to be some serious changes whether it’s leadership, whether it’s subordinates, but whomever is running the show — well, Mr. Plummer, who’s running the show — does not have control of what’s going on in his jail.”
A message left with the sheriff’s office seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned. Trotwood police Chief Erik Wilson said he wasn’t familiar with the suit and couldn’t comment.
Day was a passenger in a car driven by Darnell Trigg that collided with a vehicle driven by Elliott Gunn on Nov. 26, 2015, at the intersection of Wolf Road and Turner Road in Trotwood.
A Trotwood police report said Trigg and Day appeared intoxicated, and Day at first said he wasn’t a passenger in the vehicle. The report said witnesses said Day was a passenger in Trigg’s car.
Trotwood police arrested Day for giving false information about the crash. Wright said Day may have been in shock from his injuries. Wright said jail personnel didn’t do their job.
“(Day) said that he was screaming because he was in so much pain,” Wright said. “As opposed to getting him medical treatment, they booked him into the psych ward because of his screaming. We think that’s ridiculous.”
DeLong signed a criminal complaint against Day for obstructing justice, a second-degree misdemeanor. The charge was dismissed Aug. 24 at the request of the prosecutor.
The suit alleges Day was forced to walk into the jail by DeLong and Wagner before he was allowed to be placed in a wheelchair, booked into the jail and held in custody.
After being booked, the suit says, Day was seen by Saunders and told Saunders “he had severe pain in his hip, shooting to his toes, and inner thigh pain.”
The lawsuit alleges Day got no medical treatment during his jail stay. On Dec. 1, Day left the jail and proceeded immediately to Miami Valley Hospital for surgery to repair his fractured pelvis. Day was in the hospital until Dec. 10.
“It’s pretty clear that the operations at the jail are sub-standard, that they are not providing the medical treatment that these inmates need and, specifically, with regards to Mr. Day, there was no reason for him to be booked into the jail to begin with,” Wright said.
The suit alleges Day exhibited signs of obvious injury and quoted Wagner as stating (Day) “was hopping around like a rabbit.”
The suit included an affidavit of merit from Dr. Jonathan Paley, who wrote that, “it is my opinion within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the defendants deviated from the accepted standard of care and that such breach caused injury and damages to Jeffrey Day.”
Day said his advice to someone in the jail who is injured is: “Just pray,” he said. “You could ask, ask, ask and ask all you want. If they don’t have no concern, they just look at you like you’re another criminal. That’s what you’re going to be.”
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