County sued for ignoring jumper's history

The father of a mentally ill inmate who was seriously injured after jumping from a second floor at San Diego's Central Jail has filed a lawsuit against the County of San Diego.

Jonathan Thomas jumped on November 6, 2014, less than one month after being transferred from Atascadero State Hospital for a routine court hearing. Attorneys for Dave Thomas, Jonathan's father, say prison officials were warned of the inmate's schizophrenic disorder and that, given the opportunity, he would jump or try to hurt himself in order to get away from the voices in his head. The lawsuit notes that Thomas had jumped from a second story in 2008 while incarcerated at George F. Bailey Detention Facility.

History of an Inner Hell

Thomas has had a long battle with mental illness. According to the lawsuit, doctors diagnosed him as schizoaffective at the age of seven. The voices in his head were constantly chattering. He obsessed that the Central Intelligence Agency was eavesdropping on him. At the same time, a voice he identified as Satan gave him orders to hurt himself and others.

In 2008, after being admitted to a group home, Thomas set fire to a couch inside the building. No one was injured. Thomas was arrested and taken to George Bailey to await sentencing. While there, he leapt over the second-story railing, breaking both heels and spraining his back. A jury later sentenced him to three years of prison for his role in the arson.

Thomas was then taken to Atascadero State Hospital, where he remained until the transfer to Central Jail before his November 2014 hearing. Upon his transfer, his father, as well as a family friend, warned prison officials that Thomas was schizophrenic and suffered from severe bipolar disorder. His father told prison staff that his son was likely to jump from over railings to try and hurt himself. The complaint says officials didn't heed his advice.

On November 6, 2014, Thomas jumped from the second story, breaking his back, both ankles, right tibia, and fracturing his pelvis.

When asked why Thomas was not properly housed, prison officials said they weren't "equipped to handle this situation."

So Much for the Information Age...

In the lawsuit, attorneys for Thomas declare that San Diego's chief medical officer for the sheriff's detention services says 28 percent of inmates suffer from some sort of mental illness or psychological disorders. The lawsuit also claims that federal Bureau of Justice Statistics peg San Diego detention facilities as having the second highest rate of suicide when compared with other large counties. For that reason alone, Thomas says there needs to be a policy in place.

"A complete failure to incorporate information gathering and sharing systems is also deliberately indifferent to inmates such as Jonathan, inmates who were transferred from mental hospitals or who suffer from multiple complicated mental and behavioral disorders compounded with previous suicide attempts while being incarcerated.

“A policy requiring inter-agency communication would have ensured that [Atascadero State Hospital], George Bailey and Central would gather and share records and information relevant to Jonathan’s mental health and safety. Due to the county’s total lack of a policy accounting for adequate sharing techniques regarding proper housing classifications, treatments and evaluations of patients suffering from disorders that are known to cause harm to the patient or to others, Jonathan’s mental and medical conditions were deliberately ignored which directly lead to Jonathan’s injuries. This failure directly led to Jonathan’s ability to harm himself – again"

Thomas is suing for general and special damages as a result of the lack of policy.