A tragedy occurred on July 7, 2024, when 33-year-old Nathan Bradford Smith died in Coos Bay, Oregon. But now his family is filing a federal lawsuit alleging that the police department’s “deliberate indifference” killed him.

What we know is that on Aug. 7, the police had multiple run-ins with Smith. At 11 a.m., they were engaged in an unrelated investigation and confiscated a meth pipe from him. At 3 p.m., bystanders reported that Smith — who was diagnosed with schizophrenia — was screaming and disturbing customers at a local business. Officers warned him that one more report and he would be arrested. Then at 5 p.m., someone called 911 when they noticed Smith collapsed on the sidewalk outside the local Motel 6.

Officers found him dressed in a heavy coat and rain pants. A police officer reviewing the bodycam footage reported his breathing was “loud and somewhat labored.” Instead of calling an ambulance or driving Smith to the hospital, Officer Benjamin Martin handcuffed Smith, put him in the back of his police cruiser, and drove to the station. Martin then locked the car, with the windows rolled up, went inside the station, and began scrolling TikTok.

Police officer scrolls TikTok while suspect suffers outside in his cruiser

Martin liked several videos, then opened his text messages. He responded to a message that said, “I’m so ready for snuggles I feel like I haven’t seen you in a week.” Finally, Martin returned to the car and found Smith breathing in an “odd pattern.” He administered Narcan for a suspected drug overdose and called paramedics.

Paramedics checked Smith’s temperature and found it was 107 degrees. They took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Cause of death: “hyperthermia due to methamphetamine intoxication.” The report noted that his “multiple layers of heavy clothing” might have contributed to his death.

The lawsuit says, “Had officers taken Mr. Smith directly to Bay Area Hospital from Motel 6 or called an ambulance to the scene, emergency department staff would have had over 40 minutes to stabilize Mr. Smith prior to the time he suffered cardiac arrest.”

Officer Martin left Smith alone for 10 minutes. The temperature outside was about 65 degrees. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the internal temperature of a vehicle can climb 19 degrees in just 10 minutes. So can Martin’s actions be considered “deliberate indifference?” We’ll just have to wait and see what the jury says.