Mentally ill prisoner died hooded, strapped to chair while guards chatted nearby, suit claims

The family of a mentally ill Colorado prison inmate who died while in custody has filed a lawsuit alleging guards stood around joking while failing to attend to his medical needs following a seizure caught on tape.

According to the lawsuit, at least 16 state prison staff members did nothing to help Christopher Lopez, 35, as he suffered seizures and died after being restrained in a chair, as documented in the video provided to 9News.

According to his family, Lopez, who had just been released from nine-and-a-half months in solitary confinement, suffered from bipolar schizoaffective disorder.

Two days after being released from solitary, he was discovered by jailers lying on the floor in his cell barely conscious. Instead of calling for medical assistance, the guards allegedly put Lopez in chains and placed a ‘spit hood’ over his head before strapping him into a chair.

While restrained by the chair, Lopez can be seen in the video having one or two grand mal seizures before slumping over. It is not clear if any staff saw the seizures as the video camera filming him appeared to be unmanned.

Prison staff eventually took Lopez out of the chair and placed him on his side on the ground, with one officer saying, “”Holler if anything changes,” and another replying, “Like, if he stops breathing?”

More here and see the video: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/20/mentally-ill-prisoner-died-hooded-strapped-to-chair-while-guards-chatted-nearby-suit-claims/