Thursday, August 1, 2013

Student wins $4M from U.S. after ordeal

  • Daniel Chong (KFMB-TV)
    Student wins $4M from U.S. after ordeal

    Student abandoned 4 days in cell without water to get $4 million from US

    By Elliot Spagat And Alicia A. Caldwell, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – Wed, 31 Jul, 2013
    SAN DIEGO - A 25-year old college student reached a $4.1 million settlement with the U.S. government after he was abandoned in a windowless cell for more than four days without food or water, his attorneys said Tuesday.
    Daniel Chong said he drank his own urine to stay alive, hallucinated that agents were trying to poison him with gases through the vents, and tried to carve a farewell message to his mother in his arm.
    It remained unclear how the situation occurred, and no one has been disciplined, said Eugene Iredale, an attorney for Chong, The Justice Department's inspector general is investigating.
    "It sounded like it was an accident — a really, really bad, horrible accident," Chong said.
    Chong was taken into custody during a drug raid and placed in the cell in April 2012 by a police officer authorized to perform Drug Enforcement Administration work. The officer told Chong he would not be charged and said, "'Hang tight, we'll come get you in a minute,'" Iredale said.
    Justice Department spokeswoman Allison Price confirmed the settlement was reached for $4.1 million but declined to answer other questions. The DEA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
    Chong said he planned to save and buy his parents a house.
    Chong was a 23-year-old engineering student when he was at a friend's house where the DEA found 18,000 ecstasy pills, other drugs and weapons. Iredale acknowledged Chong was there to consume marijuana.
    Chong and eight other people were taken into custody, but authorities decided against pursuing charges against him after questioning.
    Chong said he began to hallucinate on the third day in the cell. He urinated on a metal bench so he could have something to drink. He stacked a blanket, his pants and shoes on a bench and tried to reach an overhead fire sprinkler, trying with his cuffed hands to set it off.
    Chong said he accepted the possibility of death. He bit into his eyeglasses to break them and used a shard of glass to try to carve "Sorry Mom" onto his arm so he could leave something for her. He only managed to finish an "S."
    Chong said he slid a shoelace under the door and screamed to get attention before five or six people found him covered in his feces in the cell.
    "All I wanted was my sanity," Chong said. "I wasn't making any sense."
    Chong was hospitalized for five days for dehydration, kidney failure, cramps and a perforated esophagus. He lost 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms).
    The DEA issued a rare public apology at the time.
    The DEA introduced national detention standards as a result of the ordeal involving Daniel Chong, including daily inspections and a requirement for cameras in cells, said Julia Yoo, one of his lawyers.
    U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican, on Tuesday renewed his call for the DEA to explain the incident.
    "How did this incident happen? Has there been any disciplinary action against the responsible employees? And has the agency taken major steps to prevent an incident like this from happening again?" he said.
    ___
    Caldwell reported from Washington.
    end quote from:

    Student wins $4M from U.S. after ordeal 
    I was listening to I believe CNN and what likely happened is that the DEA doesn't have proper funding for taking care of prisoners (or at least didn't at this time). So, it is possible you might hear of other people locked up from various government offices dying in situations like this (or it happening and no one finding out because the person is now dead and so no living witnesses) because of the automatic defunding of the Sequester.

    Also, when I went without water or food for 4 days in 1983 it was a conscious choice that I knew I could end any moment if I wanted to. When I listened to his description of his being covered in feces and hallucinating from drinking his own urine while trying to carve "I'm sorry Mom" into his arm in case he died made me know he almost died there alone.

    Whereas I didn't almost die I chose consciously to pray for 4 days while not eating or drinking anything. This one thing to know. If you don't eat or drink anything you are going to hallucinate and see possibly visions of God  and/or bad things. It is a given in our dna physiology that this is going to happen. For example, the thing that terrified me the most when I was doing this was at night I would hear bears coming into the bear wallow where I was and knew I was probably too out of it to defend myself or think straight because of not eating or drinking anything. So, whether the bears were real or not I likely wouldn't have known for sure unless I was dead. But, this was the scariest thing I experienced then. and 2nd scariest was me becoming a 50 to 100 foot tall Golden Dragon and breathing golden fire out on everyone that made them smile and enlightened them. Very prophetic in some ways. So, when praying and doing this when you are ready for this you might find out what you need to be doing in your life if your health is good enough and you are mentally balanced and an out of doors person enough to pull this off and stay alive.
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