A man who suffered a severe broken arm while being arrested in 2019 has sued Starr County, the jail and its sheriff alleging he languished in jail for nearly a week without proper medical care.
Jose Luz Pulido’s attorney filed the Civil Rights lawsuit on Feb. 26 in federal court against the county, its jail and Sheriff Rene Fuentes.
The parties made their initial appearance in front of a federal judge on Thursday, records show.
Attorneys representing Starr County and Fuentes have filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss the suit for failing to state a claim and because they say Fuentes has qualified immunity.
The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested Pulido on Oct. 22, 2019, near his home in Rio Grande City on charges of evading arrest and suspected possession of a controlled substance, according to the petition.
“During the process of his evasion and arrest his arm was badly broken. The Plaintiff’s arm was broken and he was in visible and excruciating pain was obvious to everyone,” the lawsuit states.
Two images contained in the petition show Pulido’s badly bruised and deformed forearm.
After his arrest, DPS took him to the McAllen Medical Center where his arm was placed in a temporary sling, he was given pain medications to be taken every four hours and received instructions to follow-up as soon as possible with an orthopedic surgeon before being released back into DPS custody, according to the litigation.
“The charges against Plaintiff were ultimately dismissed,” the petition notes.
DPS took Pulido to the Starr County jail after he was released from the hospital.
“Despite the release from McAllen Medical Center, Plaintiff could barely communicate, had fever and was vomiting. His arm was clearly in need of immediate surgery to avoid long-term deformity. Despite McAllen Medical Center releasing Plaintiff, the Jail failed to have a written policy regarding obviously ill and injured inmates who are medically instable being taken into the Jail,” the lawsuit states.
Once taken to jail, the petition alleges that Pulido’s jail registration and initial booking sheet lacked information to his obvious injuries in addition to jail personnel not asking Pulido medical questions.
“Plaintiff had fever and continual vomiting that was obvious when he was released by DPS into the custody of the Jail. Jail personnel did nothing to seek medical attention for Plaintiff, even misstating the severity of his condition to those who could have sought help,” the petition states.
Pulido also alleges that despite his “horrific pain,” jail personnel denied him the medications prescribed by the jail, despite a jail policy requiring personnel to provide him with.
“On the third day he received one dose of Children’s Tylenol. His repeated daily requests for help at the Jail were ignored,” the lawsuit says.
The petition says that his fellow detainees tried to get the jailers to help Pulido.
“Other detainees told the guards about Plaintiff’s fever and vomiting, but their reports of Plaintiff’s pain and physical condition were ignored. Plaintiff did not eat and barely moved for days. This too was ignored,” the petition states.
Pulido says he also never received the follow-up, which is a violation of the jail’s own policy regarding medical referrals, according to the lawsuit.
“Instead, Plaintiff was left with fever, vomiting and a severely deformed arm break until the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) finally intervened,” the petition says.
That happened on Oct. 27, 2019, according to Pulido.
“Those agents immediately noticed Plaintiff’s arm, examined Plaintiff’s arm, and questioned the jailers about why Plaintiff had been kept at the Jail in his condition and not released,” the lawsuit states.
According to the petition, the ICE agents told jailers he should have never been accepted into the jail in his condition.
“Those officers then told the jailers that they were releasing Plaintiff and would send over a waiver and permission for Plaintiff to remain in Starr County to treat for his injuries,” the petition says. “One agent stayed with Plaintiff. Another agent stated that he was going to call Harlingen. Both agents apologized and told Plaintiff he should never have been accepted into the jail.”
Once ICE left, Pulido was taken back to his cell and then released about four hours later.
“Clearly, Starr County did not want to retain custody of Plaintiff and be required to pay to treat his injuries as suggested by the ICE agents,” the lawsuit states.
By the time he was released, the damage was exacerbated, according to Pulido’s attorney, who says in the petition that his injuries became more complicated and that the delay caused significant pain and injury.
“Plaintiff has undergone a lengthy surgery and has extensive physical therapy ahead. His arm will never fully recover. He will be significantly limited in the use of his arm which will substantially affect his ability to work and function had the deliberate and improper actions not occurred,” the lawsuit says.
The petition alleges that a non-physician decided to deny follow-up medical treatment because of the jail’s lack of desire to spend any funds to transport Pulido for medical care despite the jail’s own policy on inability to pay.
“Defendants acted with deliberate indifference to Plaintiff’s serious medical needs. Defendants were aware, or should have been aware, based on the obviousness of Plaintiff’s injury and his vomiting and fever, of an unjustifiable risk to Plaintiff’s health,” the lawsuit states.
Attorneys representing the county and Fuentes have not yet filed an answer to the petition, but instead filed a motion arguing that the lawsuit should be dismissed for failing to state a claim and because Fuentes has qualified immunity.
That motion also says Fuentes should be dismissed because the only articulated claim is for supervisory liability because he can only be liable if he affirmatively participated in an act causing a constitutional deprivation or if he implemented unconstitutional policies resulting in injuries to Pulido.
“Plaintiff does not allege that Sheriff Fuentes was personally involved in his incarceration or medical treatment. Likewise, Plaintiff does not identify a single policy, custom or practice, adopted or implemented by Sheriff Fuentes, that condones or sanctions any alleged constitutional violation made the basis of this suit,” the motion states.
And although Pulido argues there was a custom, policy or practice of failing to monitor detainees and to ensure they receive appropriate medical treatment, county attorneys say he offers no evidence.
Instead, the motion to dismiss says he only offers conclusory allegations, unwarranted factual inferences and legal conclusions.
Lastly, the county attorneys say the lawsuit should be dismissed because it fails to show that Starr County has a well-settled policy to deprive detainees of medical care.
The next motion filing deadline for both parties is in May of 2022, records show.
Read the full lawsuit below:
WARNING: The lawsuit contains extremely graphic images of Jose Luz Pulido’s badly bruised and deformed forearm.
