Student Forgotten in DEA Cell for Days After Drug Raid Wins $4.1 Million
Photo Credit: CNNDaniel Chong, forgotten in DEA cell, settles suit for $4.1 million
By Stan Wilson. A University of California San Diego student left unmonitored in a holding cell for five days by the Drug Enforcement Administration has settled a lawsuit for $4.1 million, his attorney said Tuesday.
“This was a mistake of unbelievable and unimaginable proportions,” said attorney Julia Yoo.
Daniel Chong, 25, drank his own urine to survive and even wrote a farewell note to his mother before authorities discovered him severely dehydrated after a 2012 drug raid in San Diego.
Chong was detained on the morning of April 21 when DEA agents raided a house they suspected was being used to distribute MDMA, commonly known as “ecstasy.”
A multiagency narcotics task force, including state agents, detained nine people and seized about 18,000 ecstasy pills, marijuana, prescription medications, hallucinogenic mushrooms, several guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition from the house, according to the DEA. Read more from this story HERE.
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College student abandoned in windowless DEA cell for more than 4 days without food, water, gets huge settlement
By Jason Howerton. The DEA introduced national detention standards as a result of the ordeal involving Daniel Chong, including daily inspections and a requirement for cameras in cells, said Julia Yoo, one of his lawyers…
It remained unclear how the situation occurred, and no one has been disciplined, said Eugene Iredale, another attorney for Chong, The Justice Department’s inspector general is investigating.
“It sounded like it was an accident – a really, really bad, horrible accident,” Chong said.
Chong was taken into custody during a drug raid and placed in the cell in April 2012 by a San Diego police officer authorized to perform DEA work on a task force. The officer told Chong he would not be charged and said, “‘Hang tight, we’ll come get you in a minute,’” Iredale said…
Chong was a 23-year-old engineering student when he was at a friend’s house where the DEA found 18,000 ecstasy pills, other drugs and weapons. Iredale acknowledged Chong was there to consume marijuana. Read more from this story HERE.