A Minnesota employee of the U.S. Postal Service died in police custody after officers ignored signs of him having a stroke, a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court on Thursday alleges. The suit, which was filed by Kingsley Fifi Bimpong’s family, says law enforcement failed to conduct proper screening, assumed he was intoxicated and left him in his cell for hours before transporting him to the hospital, where he was declared dead.

The lawsuit seeks $120 million in damages and policy changes at the Dakota County Jail, according to CBS News. It names three City of Eagan police officers, seven Dakota County correctional officers and Dakota County as defendants. It alleges violations of Bimpong’s constitutional rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, according to KARE 11.

KARE 11 reported that officers and jail staff mistook “his medical emergency for drug impairment.” 

Why was USPS worker Kingsley Fifi Bimpong arrested?

Kingsley Fifi Bimpong was a 50-year-old USPS employee and a permanent U.S. residency originally from Ghana. On Nov. 16, 2024, he left his shift at the Eagan Postal Distribution Center after saying he was suffering from a headache. He was stopped by law enforcement officers after they saw him driving the wrong way on Pilot Knob Road.

At the time, Bimpong appeared confused and said he didn’t know where he lived or worked. Martin Jensen, an Eagan officer trained as a Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE), was called in to assess if the man was intoxicated. The officer refused to conduct the evaluation and said it would be “a whole bunch of time wasted,” according to body camera audio, per KARE 11. Another officer asked if Bimpong should be taken to the hospital, to which Jensen replied: “For what?” 

Bimpong was then arrested over suspected Driving While Intoxicated. He was taken to the Dakota County Jail and a blood sample was taken. 

Bimpong was held in custody for nearly six hours. Security footage shows him falling to the ground, urinating on himself and laying on the floor. Guards, who are mandated to check on inmates’ wellbeing, marked him as “inmate and cell OK” on the official logs. After three hours and 26 minutes, the jail nurse was called for the first time after a guard saw Bimpong foaming at the mouth. She administered him three doses of Narcan based on his DWI arrest. Bimpong was cold to the touch and unresponsive when the nurse was called, according to the lawsuit.

When paramedics arrived, Bimpong’s blood pressure indicated a life-threatening hypertensive crisis. He was taken to Regina hospital in Hastings, then to United Hospital in St Paul and was declared brain dead. He was removed from life support on Nov. 19, 2024. Bimpong suffered a massive brain bleed known as an intraparenchymal hemorrhage. No drugs were found in his system.

“This is one of the worst jail deaths we’ve ever seen,” Katie Bennett, an attorney representing Bimpong’s family, said, KARE II reported.

“At every step along the way with Eagan and jail defendants, it was a conscious choice of deliberate inference to not bring him to the hospital,” she added via CBS.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections has launched an investigation

An investigation by the Minnesota Department of Corrections found that none of the Dakota County correctional officers were up to date with their first aid and CPR certifications. It also found that officers violated state law by not documenting emergency medical information or conducting a mental health screening.

Vicki Hruby, an attorney representing the City of Eagan, said in a statement that Bimpong displayed no obvious signs of medical emergency.

“Hours after Eagan officers transported Mr. Bimpong to the Jail, it was discovered that he had experienced a stroke, which was fatal,” she said. “While Mr. Bimpong’s death is tragic, he was not exhibiting an objectively serious medical condition that was obvious to lay persons at the time he was in the Eagan officers’ custody and there (was) no indication that he required emergent medical treatment.”