Victor Stevenson was lying on the floor of his Klamath County jail cell, writhing in pain, when sheriff's deputies allegedly decided to make him the punchline of their joke — mocking him because he reeked of urine and feces they had left him to lie in for days, according to a federal lawsuit that claims their negligence led to the amputation of his entire left leg.
Background
Stevenson, who is now 61 years old, was booked into the Klamath County Jail in Oregon while facing misdemeanor charges for criminal trespass, resisting arrest and escape. He would later plead guilty only to the trespass charge, with the other counts dismissed, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
The lawsuit alleges that from the moment of his booking, jail staff failed to follow their own policies requiring emergency medical clearance before accepting a detainee. "They never took a single set of vital signs," the complaint states. "They never sent him to a hospital."
According to the filing, Stevenson began decompensating rapidly while in custody — pacing naked in a darkened cell, hallucinating, falling, meowing, and becoming incontinent. He was left lying in his own feces without access to a toilet, rolling on the concrete floor until "the skin tore from his legs," the complaint alleges.
The Investigation
The lawsuit claims jail staff watched Stevenson deteriorate from what the filing describes as "a psychiatric and medical crisis into a fatal-range emergency" over the course of five days. It was only on his fifth day in custody that staff finally called for help — but by then, it was too late to save his leg.
According to the complaint, body-worn camera footage captured deputies mocking Stevenson as they lifted his "limp body into a wheelchair." One deputy identified as Davidson allegedly told him to "lift your feet up for us as best as you can" before breaking into laughter when another officer held Stevenson's hand near a colleague's nose, gesturing at the stench.
Moments later, according to the filing, a sergeant again waved his hand toward another officer and asked, "Wanna smell?" The sergeant then joked that Stevenson would be transported "in the trunk" of an officer's vehicle.
When jail staff finally got him to a hospital emergency department, Stevenson arrived in critical condition — "profoundly dehydrated," in kidney failure, in septic shock, with a completely occluded arterial stent and no blood flow to his left leg. At one point, his heart stopped and had to be restarted.
Surgeons amputated his entire left leg at the hip. Pathological testing later confirmed the presence of gangrene, according to the complaint. The lawsuit states that during the days county officials left his deteriorating condition unaddressed, his leg was starved of blood flow until the tissue died.
Key Takeaways
- Victor Stevenson, now 61, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Klamath County, its sheriff, deputies, and the jail's medical provider
- The complaint alleges staff failed to provide any medical evaluation despite Stevenson's visible deterioration over five days in custody
- Jail surveillance footage allegedly captured deputies mocking Stevenson because of the smell from waste they left him lying in
- Stevenson's leg developed gangrene due to lack of blood flow and had to be amputated at the hip
- The lawsuit claims staff finally called for help on day five, but by then Stevenson's condition had become life-threatening, causing sepsis and kidney failure
What's Next
Stevenson is seeking unspecified economic, noneconomic and punitive damages. Klamath County and its sheriff's office have not responded to media requests seeking comment on the lawsuit, which states: "The unlawfulness of leaving an incoherent, medically unevaluated detainee to deteriorate for days and then mocking and dragging him while he was unable to stand was obvious to any reasonable official."
The case is pending in federal court.