[Elisabetxxx]

http://m.nbcsandiego.com/nbcsandiego...l=true#display

DEA Ignored All My Cries: Student
SARAH GRIECO
Posted: 05/01/2012 8:11 PM


Daniel Chong, the UC San Diego student who was left in a Drug Enforcement Agency holding cell for nearly five days, said the time spent in his cell was a life-altering experience.

Before holding a press conference Tuesday afternoon, the 23-year-old spoke with NBCSanDiego and said he was increasingly worried throughout the days he spent in a 5 ft. by 10 ft. cell, where he could not spread his arms out wide.

“They never came back, ignored all my cries and I still don’t know what happened,” he said. “I’m not sure how they could forget me.”

Chong and his lawyer spoke to the media on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the claim they will file with the federal court system on Wednesday.

“He was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said his lawyer Gene Iredale, who compared Chong’s experience to Abu Ghraib.

Chong said he was at a friend’s house in University City celebrating 4/20, a day many marijuana users set aside to smoke, when agents came inside and raided the residence. Chong was then taken to the DEA office in Kearny Mesa.

He said agents questioned him, and then told him he could go home. One agent even offered him a ride, Chong said. No criminal charges were filed against him.

But Chong did not go home that night. Instead, he was placed in a cell for five days without any human contact and was not given food or drink. In his desperation, he said he was forced to drink his own urine.

“I had to do what I had to do to survive….I hallucinated by the third day,” Chong said. “I was completely insane.”

Chong said he lost roughly 15 pounds during the time he was alone. His lawyer confirmed that Chong ingested a powdery substance found inside the cell. Later testing revealed the substance was methamphetamine.

After days of being ignored, Chong said he tried to take his own life by breaking the glass from his spectacles with his teeth and then carving “Sorry mom,” on his wrists. He said nurses also found pieces of glass in his throat, which led him to believe he ingested the pieces purposefully.

Chong said he could hear DEA employees and people in neighboring cells. He screamed to let them know he was there, but no one replied. He kicked the door, but no one came to get him.
By the time DEA officers found Chong in his cell Wednesday morning Chong was completely incoherent, said Iredale.

“I didn’t think I would come out,” Chong said.

He said when employees discovered him in the cell that they looked confused and nervous. A DEA employee rode with him to the hospital, where they paid for Chong’s visit.

He spent three days in the intensive care unit at Sharp Hospital and his kidneys were close to failing.

The DEA has not apologized to Chong, said Iredale.

The incident also caused Chong to miss his midterms at UCSD. He said he does not know if he will return to school, as his perspective on life has changed since his isolation.

San Diego defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms said the victim could get millions if he files a lawsuit.

"In all my years of practice I've never heard of the DEA or any Federal government employee simply forgetting about someone that they have in their care," she said.

"There has to be repercussions if people do not follow the safety and the care when they have a human being in their custody."

[18holesin]

And Chinese dissidents run to THESE people for protection?

[Rtebydou]

This is what we all can expect from this rogue gubberment gone wild!

With all the ammo sales to every govt dept, drones in the USA and all the new armored vehicles the DHS has graciously given the local authorities...

They know something big is coming this way and are getting all of their assets in place.

I have been having this recurring dream about the election being halted when martial law was enacted. Anyone protesting is sent to one of the many fema camps. People were resorting to insurgency and IED's.

But fortunately thats only a dream... or is it

[Dweplyododo]

He didn't get tazed?

[endulundaSauh]

Wow, utterly reprehensible.

There goes some more millions of our tax dollars to another unnecessary victim of an inept government.

[Elisabetxxx]

he didn't get tazed?

na all he got was some meth left in a cell.......................wtf.............

[johnuioyer]

when the US gov says "oops", do they say it out loud or just silently ?

cuz they sure make a lot of mistakes.

[Elisabetxxx]

when the us gov says "oops", do they say it out loud or just silently ?

cuz they sure make a lot of mistakes.

at least they are consistent .........................

[PheliarearY]

Student "Forgotten" in DEA Custody Mulls Civil Suit: Source

Sources say student detainee nearly died of kidney failure after several days in cell

[IMG]http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/654*368/KNSD_Student_Forgotten_in_DEA_Custod_050112_20_mez zn_722x406_2229339112.jpg[/IMG]

A 24-year old UCSD student was left in the cell for five days without food or water, seemingly forgotten by the federal authorities who detained him. Local defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms talks with NBC 7's Tony Shin in this report.

More Photos and Videos

A San Diego college student detained for several days in a county detention facility cell is seeking an attorney and may be considering filing a civil lawsuit sources tell NBCSanDiego.
The 24-year old UCSD engineering student was left in the cell for five days without food or water, seemingly forgotten by the federal authorities who detained him.
He was one of seven people detained after a Drug Enforcement Administration ecstasy raid in University City on April 21, according to a DEA statement.
"The individual was at the house by his own admission," the DEA confirmed Monday.
During the raid, authorities confiscated ecstasy, marijuana, prescription medication, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and a white powdery substance that was described as a synthetic hallucinogen. They also seized numerous weapons including a Russian rifle, handguns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
"Seven suspects were brought back to county detention." One was released, but "accidentally left in one of the cells," a statement from the DEA read.
The defendants were brought back to the DEA office after the raid and processed. The suspects were moved around the five cells at the detention facility during the proceeding. None were strip or body cavity searched, the DEA stated.
A law enforcement source told NBC 7 that the student was handcuffed and held in a room no larger than the average bathroom.
Sources say a worker at the DEA discovered the man by chance about five days later after hearing strange noises coming from the holding cells.
When authorities with the DEA discovered that the student was still in the cell, they immediately called emergency medical services.
In the cell, the detainee told authorities he found a white powdery substance, which he took, the statement said.
Later testing revealed the substance was methamphetamine.
Sources close to the student say he nearly died of kidney failure in Sharp hospital due to the dehydration he experienced. He was treated for several days and released.
He is not currently under arrest, authorities with the DEA said.
San Diego defense attorney Gretchen Von Helms says the victim could get millions if he files a lawsuit.
"In all my years of practice I've never heard of the DEA or any Federal government employee simply forgetting about someone that they have in their care," she said.
"There has to be repercussions if people do not follow the safety and the care when they have a human being in their custody."
Former federal prosecutor John Kirby said he’s familiar with the holding cells at the DEA office. He told NBC 7 San Diego that the rooms have no bathrooms and the suspect likely went without food or water.
Given his familiarity with the DEA, Kirby said this incident is “inconceivable” because every detainee is processed, and it would be hard to get lost in the shuffle.
“You talk about whether they might have done it intentionally, No way because somebody's career is done over this,” added Kirby.

[Azzi_Kahlila]

You know book it is possible that he found and ingested the substance in the cell. I imagine after 5 days of no food and water anything would look edible. If they were dumb enough to forget him in there then they would be stupid enough to not check cells thoroughly between prisoners. Prior prisoners would quickly ditch anything on their person at the first chance they had.

From what I have read though this almost sounds like some sort of experiment. You trap someone in a cage for 5 days with no food or water and meth and see what they do. He said he could hear people in nearby rooms but nobody came to investigate. Almost like he was being monitored.

[Dweplyododo]

when the US gov says "oops", do they say it out loud or just silently ?

cuz they sure make a lot of mistakes.

Those aren't mistakes. Those are "unforeseen circumstances", "things beyond our control", or "an area where new regulations need to be placed".

[LoisCampon]

Talk about a terrible 4/20...

[oscilsoda]

These sorts of things are done deliberately, with full knowledge that they will be newsworthy. They are done in order to perpetuate the climate of fear that is meant to surround any act of "not toeing the line."

They will also, of course, get away with it, to prove the point that they can do any damned thing they please.

[Sydaycymn]

Bivens claim ... there has got to be a trail of paperwork. Attack the people, not the organization, and the organization will die.

[ThzinChang]

These sorts of things are done deliberately, with full knowledge that they will be newsworthy. They are done in order to perpetuate the climate of fear that is meant to surround any act of "not toeing the line."

They will also, of course, get away with it, to prove the point that they can do any damned thing they please.

The other thing is, while he was in the cell, they investigate his family to find out if anyone has money. Then they could create a charge and drain the family's wealth in legal costs. If they find out there is no wealth to be gleaned, they let the fellow go.

[Kvkcgktl]

So Chongs life went Up in Smoke along with the Nice Dreams , but hey Things are Tough All Over .
Come next 4/20 he'll be Still Smokin' so Get Out of My Room .
Looks like the only thing missin' is Cheech Marin.

I want to know what happened to his "friend" whose house he was at celebrating 4/20.
Not much of a friend if they let you go missing for 5 days.
Or was the friend picked up as well and still decomposing in another cell somewhere?

[happyman]

Can you say Million/Billion dollar lawsuit?