Ramsey County to pay $3.6M to family of hemophiliac who died after arrest, jail
Ramsey County has agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle a family's lawsuit after a 37-year-old man with hemophilia died following his 2022 arrest in St. Paul.
The lawsuit alleged that the county and four correctional officers violated Dillon Dean Bakke's right to adequate medical treatment under the Fourteenth Amendment. The lawsuit was brought by the law firm Meshbesher and Student P.A. on behalf of Bakke's mother, Teresa Marie Schnell of St. Paul.
According to court documents, Bakke, a graphic designer, caregiver at a long-term care facility and severe hemophiliac, was arrested by St. Paul police officers on suspicion of drug possession and taken to Ramsey County jail on Aug. 7, 2022.
When he was booked, he had a laceration on his forehead and extensive bruising on his body. Court documents allege that jail staff was aware Bakke suffered from hemophilia and needed prescription clotting medication at any signs of bodily injuries.
Despite this, attorneys alleged, he did not receive the medication or any medical treatment.
'The lawsuit alleges that during Dillon's three-day detainment at the jail, he suffered a medical emergency, specifically a brain bleed with corresponding serious and obvious neurological symptoms,' the law firm said in announcing the settlement.
Bakke's condition was ignored and he was denied medical treatment for 30 hours, the firm said.
'On the morning he was to be released from custody, jail staff found him unresponsive on the floor of his cell. Dillon was transported to Regions Hospital where, despite the heroic efforts of his doctors and nurses, he never regained consciousness and tragically passed away on August 27,' the attorneys said.
Bakke began displaying neurological signs and symptoms on Aug. 7 and 'began vocally and continually complaining about severe pain,' the lawsuit says. His condition deteriorated overnight and into the early morning hours of Aug. 8, 'at which point he was unable to stand or walk, and was yelling out in pain and yelling for his mother.'
According to the lawsuit, correctional officers Xue Yang, Alex Grundhofer, Scott Brommerich and Antonio Rulli went to Bakke's jail cell, handcuffed him and carried him to a cell in the segregation unit, where they laid him down and left without reporting his condition to medical personnel or requesting medical treatment.
In response to the settlement, a spokesman for Ramsey County said that the correctional staff notified medical personnel about Bakke's condition on 'multiple occasions' during this time in custody.
The county's public health staff oversees all medical care in the jail, Ramsey County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Linders said.
'Public Health staff working in the Adult Detention Center are not supervised by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office. Their training, supervision and medical decisions are the responsibility of Public Health leadership,' he said. 'During Dillion Bakke's time in custody, correctional staff promptly notified medical personnel on multiple occasions.'
Linders said that each time medical personnel were notified, Bakke's condition was assessed by public health staff.
'Our sympathies are with Mr. Bakke's family,' he said. 'Everyone deserves competent medical care in jail.'
The settlement is one of the largest of its kind in Minnesota, according to Meshbesher and Student.
The lawsuit in Bakke's death followed a $3 million settlement in June 2023 involving another alleged case of inmate mistreatment and medical neglect at the Ramsey County jail. In that case, a woman said correctional officers tackled her to the ground when she was handcuffed with her arms behind her back. Her tibia was fractured and an artery was severed, but she wasn't taken for medical treatment for 17 hours, according to her lawsuit.
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