A woman whom Washington state authorities thought was drunk or high when they arrested her was actually suffering a life-threatening medical emergency and had to spend a day in jail without medical attention, according to a new civil rights lawsuit.
Nicole McClure reportedly spent a day lying on a jail cell floor suffering from a brain bleed after a Washington state trooper arrested her on suspicion of drunk driving nearly two years ago.
The Seattle Times reports that McClure filed a lawsuit this month in Tacoma against Thurston County, Thurston County Jail, and Washington State Patrol for negligence. In that suit, she claimed that officials mocked her and ignored her pleas for help during her jail stay.
The lawsuit, dashcam footage, and arrest reports reveal that Washington State Trooper Jonathan Barnes saw McClure, who was 38 at the time, driving too slowly and wandering out of her lane on March 21, 2022, so he attempted to conduct a traffic stop.
He flashed his emergency lights, but McClure kept driving until she ran into a traffic roundabout.
After the car stopped, Barnes approached McClure’s car with his gun raised, yelling at her to get out of her vehicle. Dashcam footage shows Barnes push McClure onto the hood of his car and accuse her of eluding police.
He also asked her leading questions to determine if she was drunk or high, like “When’s the last time you used meth?” and “When was the last time you used heroin?”
McClure answers, “I haven’t … I don’t. I’m confused. I think I’m tired.”
The complaint states that McClure said she was driving home after getting off work early and remembers suffering from a headache and dizziness.
While McClure was still restrained by Barnes on the hood of his car, Barnes accused her of trying to use a set of keys in her hand as a weapon when two other officers arrived on the scene. They were able to remove the keys from her hand. The lawsuit states she was…
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