Three Oregon police officers have been accused in a wrongful death lawsuit of allowing 33-year-old Nathan Bradford Smith to overdose while in the back of a patrol car. One of the officers, Tristan Smith, allegedly scrolled through TikTok and sent “intimate text messages” while Bradford Smith was “gasping for breath.”
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As reported by KOIN, citing the lawsuit, the incident occurred back on July 7, 2024. Bradford Smith had interacted with police on three different occasions on that day. The first two, reportedly, involved him smoking meth and speaking “quickly and incomprehensibly.”
The third, however, involved Bradford Smith being near a Motel 6 located on Bayshore Drive. At around 5 p.m., authorities were contacted by several callers expressing their concern over the 33-year-old’s safety. One of the callers, according to the lawsuit, reported seeing Bradford Smith “flailing around” on the ground.
Responding officers Benjamin Martin, Tristan Smith, and Wesley O’Connor pinned Bradford Smith to the ground and handcuffed him. While officer reports alleged that the man fought the officers, the lawsuit claims that Bradford Smith did not resist arrest, citing bodycam footage.
“Mr. Smith struggled to move his own body into the car,” the lawsuit claimed. “His breath was rapid and exaggerated.”
As reported by KGW, Bradford Smith was “showing signs of medical distress,” according to Oregon Justice Resource Center lead attorney Juan Chavez. He added that Bradford was “hyperthermic,” saying that “he was going to die.”
Overdose Death
Moments later, Martin arrived at the Coos Bay Police Department (CBPD) headquarters and entered the building. Meanwhile, Bradford Smith was allegedly left inside the car with the windows up, which were not working. The weather at the time was 68 degrees.
The lawsuit alleged that Officer Smith, at the time, was in the CBPD headquarters scrolling through TikTok videos and “responded to intimate text messages.” Meanwhile, Bradford Smith was “shaking uncontrollably and gasping for breath” inside the patrol car, as per the lawsuit.
Eventually, Officer Martin found Bredford Smith unconscious and provided medical assistance. The man was transported to a local hospital and entered cardiac arrest at around 5:50 p.m. Nathan Bradford Smith was declared dead at 6:25 p.m., as per the lawsuit.
The lawsuit detailed that Bradford Smith’s cause of death was listed as “hyperthermia due to Methamphetamine intoxication and probable exogenous contribution from wearing multiple layers of heavy clothing.”
The lawsuit calls the Coos Bay Police officers’ actions negligent, abusive, and unconstitutional, as per KGW. Furthermore, they are accused of being “deliberately indifferent” to Bradford Smith’s medical needs.
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