Protesters rally after Michigan man dies in jail of drug withdrawal

David Stojcevski was placed in cell after he failed to pay driving ticket
Death is the subject of a federal lawsuit and FBI investigation

Ryan Felton in Mt Clemens, Michigan
Sunday 11 October 2015 13.00 BST

Friends and family of a Michigan man who died naked in a jail cell of drug withdrawal while serving a sentence for a traffic ticket staged a rally on Saturday, as the FBI continued to investigate the incident. Local authorities said deputies had done nothing wrong in the case.

David Stojcevski, 32, was undergoing drug addiction treatment when Macomb County sheriff’s deputies arrested him in June 2014, for failing to pay a $772 ticket for careless driving. Unable to pay, he was locked up at the county jail for a 30-day sentence.

According to a federal lawsuit filed by his brother, Vladimir, problems arose almost immediately. Stojcevski was placed in a jail cell, the suit says, even though a nurse observed that he showed “obvious physical signs of drug abuse” and recommended placing him a drug detox unit.

Stocjevski told jail officials he took methadone as part of a drug treatment program, along with klonopin and oxycodone for anxiety and pain relief, the lawsuit said.

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