The family of a 35-year-old father of four who died of respiratory distress while detained in the Bi-State Justice Building has filed a federal lawsuit against the jail's private management company; Bowie County, Texas; city of Texarkana, Ark.; and a number of jail personnel.
Michael Sabbie was found dead in his jail cell shortly after 6 a.m. July 22, 2015. He was arrested by Texarkana, Ark., police and booked into the jail on a misdemeanor charge the afternoon of July 19, 2015, following a verbal argument with his wife, according to a complaint filed Wednesday in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas. Upon intake, Sabbie told jail staff he suffers from asthma, heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Despite his medical conditions and his need for medications to treat them, Sabbie allegedly was given no drugs during his incarceration, and nursing staff failed to conduct even routine monitoring of his blood pressure and blood sugar even though such testing was ordered by the intake nurse, the complaint states. Sabbie repeatedly showed and complained of symptoms of severe medical distress, which should have moved jail personnel to take him to a hospital but which were allegedly ignored, according to the complaint.
Sabbie allegedly told nursing staff he was short of breath and "unable to breathe while lying down" at 3:30 a.m. July 20. A jail nurse noted that his blood oxygen level was down approximately 8 percent from the day before and that his heart rate was significantly higher, but allegedly failed to conduct even basic tests that might have illuminated his dire need for treatment, according to the complaint.
"Shockingly, despite knowing that Mr. Sabbie's blood pressure was high (166/99) at intake, that he suffered from hypertension and heart trouble, that he had not been given any blood pressure medication, and that he was complaining of respiratory distress, defendant Flint did not even take Mr. Sabbie's blood pressure," the complaint states. "In addition, although she knew that Mr. Sabbie was an insulin-dependent diabetic, she did not check his blood sugar."
Flint is identified as M. Flint, a licensed vocational nurse whose first name is unavailable, in the complaint. Flint allegedly sent Sabbie back to his cell with instructions to "sit up" in response to his complaint of being unable to breathe while lying down.
On the morning of July 21, another inmate alerted jail staff after noticing Sabbie collapsed on the floor of his cell. Correctional officers, including defendants Nathaniel Johnson, Clint Brown, Shawn Palmer and Stuart Boozer, helped lift Sabbie into a wheelchair and escorted him to the nurse's station, where he was seen by licensed vocational nurse Tiffany Venable, who is named as a defendant in the suit.
Venable allegedly failed to check Sabbie's blood pressure, blood sugar or respiration during this contact and Sabbie again collapsed while walking back to his cell, the complaint states. Rather than take Sabbie back to the nurse or a hospital, officers Johnson, Brown, Palmer and Boozer took him back to the jail pod where his cell was located. The complaint alleges the officer defendants violated basic correctional standards and were deliberately indifferent to Sabbie's needs.
"Indeed, correctional staff, via defendant Shawn Palmer, later issued Mr. Sabbie an 'infraction' for 'creating a disturbance' by feigning illness and difficulty breathing,'" the complaint states.
At a court appearance later the same day, Sabbie allegedly told the judge he "needed to go to the hospital" and that he had been "spitting up blood." On his way back to his jail cell from court, Sabbie was caught on jail surveillance video without sound as he stopped and leaned against a wall, his hands on his knees in a "tripod" position as he reportedly struggled to catch his breath.
No audio recording exists of the verbal exchange between Sabbie and correctional officer Clint Brown at about 4:15 p.m. from the stationary jail camera recording in the hallway.
Sabbie can be seen holding a tissue in one hand as he speaks to Brown before turning to his right, his back facing the guard as he moves out of the camera's view briefly. Next Brown grabs Sabbie's shirt, swings him around and throws him into the concrete wall and onto the floor. Other officers rush in and pile on top of Sabbie.
The defendant officers who allegedly piled onto Sabbie's body include Robert Derrick, Andrew Lomax, Palmer and Boozer. Defendant officers Brian Jones and Nathaniel Johnson, both supervisors, arrive as well.
An officer with a hand-held camera enters the area and begins recording with audio. As Sabbie lies on the floor with five officers on top of him, he repeatedly complains that he can't breathe and makes a grunting sound as he takes rapid breaths. As an officer tells him to put his hands behind his back, a sixth officer, identified as Johnson in the complaint, sprays his face with pepper spray, a chemical repellent meant to irritate the airways.
"I can't breathe, can't breathe," Sabbie states nearly 20 times.
The complaint points out that Johnson, who doused Sabbie's face with noxious pepper spray, was well aware he had been taken to the nurse with breathing issues because he had helped escort him in a wheelchair following his morning collapse the same day. After being pepper sprayed, Sabbie is pulled to a standing position and taken to Venable in the nurse's station where, "it is clear that she did not do anything remotely close to a thorough medical examination."
The complaint alleges Venable did not check Sabbie's blood pressure or blood sugar, that she did not look at his chart, that she did not check his heart rate, that she did not listen to his lungs or heart via stethoscope, that she did not take his temperature, that she failed to ask him any questions, that she did not check his lower legs for swelling and that she did not give him any badly needed medication, all in violation of basic medical standards.
"She did not even document his visit that day," the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Dr. Gregory Montoya, M.D., was present when Sabbie was seen in the nurse's station by Venable and did not render aid. Montoya is named as a defendant.
After leaving the nurse's station, the officers placed Sabbie in a shower down the hall. When Sabbie had trouble standing in the shower, the officers ordered him to "stay up," as Sabbie continued to complain that he couldn't breathe while hot water was sprayed in his face.
"When he leaned against a wall, in an apparent effort to hold himself up, defendant Johnson, who previously pepper sprayed him, ordered him to stop doing so and threatened that if he did not comply, 'a chemical agent would be administered again,'" the complaint states. "This threat is outrageous, as Mr. Sabbie was not doing anything that would come close to justifying the use of additional pepper spray or even the threat of it."
The complaint alleges that the water that soaked Sabbie's face and clothing likely reactivated the chemical spray and worsened its effects. Cold water and soap should have been used to clean Sabbie's face and he should have been dressed in clean clothing, the complaint alleges.
The officers can be seen in the video dragging Sabbie, who is gasping, back to his cell in wet clothes with his pants pulled down, exposing his buttocks. The complaint alleges that jail staff violated protocol when they failed to check on Sabbie every 30 minutes and alleges that defendant officer Simone Nash falsely documented that she conducted the required checks.
Sabbie is left in his cell until the door is opened after 6 a.m. July 22, more than 12 hours later. Officers entered the cell because Sabbie "refused" to pull up his pants.
"Mr. Sabbie was dead. His body was stiff and cold to the touch," the complaint states. "It is not yet known how long Mr. Sabbie lay dead while jail staff ignored him. However, had defendants summoned appropriate medical care at any point before his death, Mr. Sabbie could have been saved and he would still be alive today."
The complaint alleges LaSalle Corrections, which contracts with Bowie County to manage the jail, is more concerned with profits than the civil rights of inmates or properly training medical and correctional staff. The complaint alleges LaSalle has a pattern of falsifying documents and of using excessive force in jails the company manages. The complaint specifically addresses the death of Morgan Angerbauer, a 20-year-old woman in jail for administrative probation violations, who died because jail staff allegedly failed to adequately treat her diabetes. Former LaSalle licensed vocational nurse Brittany Johnson is charged with negligent homicide in Angerbauer's death.
The lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of Sabbie's widow, Teresa Sabbie, and their three young children, as well as a child Sabbie fathered with Shankye Norton and on Norton's behalf. Sabbie's two sisters and brother are named as plaintiffs as well. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III.
Seattle lawyers Erik Heipt and Edwin Budge, who filed the suit Wednesday, said Sabbie's death has been difficult for his loved ones.
"The family has been devastated by the loss of Michael. Michael was a stay-at-home dad. He made breakfast for the family, he drove his kids to and from school, he took them to practices and after-school activities, he made dinner for the family, and he took care of the house while his wife, Teresa, worked to pay the family bills," Heipt said in an email. "His death left her (and their children) heartbroken and turned their lives upside down. Michael was also very close to his siblings, and there are no words to capture the magnitude of their grief. The family cannot conceive of how something like this could happen to an American citizen. He was treated as if his life did not matter."
Heipt and Budge said the treatment Sabbie endured and failed to survive under LaSalle's management was clearly inhumane.
"One of the things that makes this case so unusual is the existence of a video where you can see and hear Michael's suffering, and you can see and hear how he was mistreated. The lack of compassion is evident from the video itself," Budge said.
Heipt said the lawsuit seeks justice for Michael Sabbie and better care for all inmates.
"He was in acute respiratory distress and desperately needed medical attention. Instead of providing it to him, they ignored his medical needs, subjected him to excessive force, and left him to die alone in a jail cell," Heipt said. "Something like this should never happen in an American jail."