Family Files Wrongful-Death Suit

Christina Cole

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The family of man that died last year after the guards found him unconscious in an Allen County Lockup cell filed a wrongful death lawsuit in U.S. District Court on Wednesday.

Brandon Wade, 41, died at Luther Hospital June 14, 2005. The guards found him unconscious on June 13 and called an ambulance but the lawsuit alleges an ambulance should have been called sooner. The Allen County coroner ruled Wade's death as natural, from a stroke, after which he fell and hit his head on the floor. The lawsuit states that Wade may have been beaten.

It names the city, Allen County Sheriff James Herman, Allen County Jail Commander Kathryn Stevens, Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York, as well as several Fort Wayne police officers and Allen County sheriff's deputies as the defendants. It does not specify how much the family seeks in damages.

Herman, whose department runs the jail, said he could not comment on the suit because he had not seen it. Fort Wayne Police spokesman Michael Joyner said he could not comment on a pending lawsuit.

The suit alleges Wade suffered blunt force trauma to the head from members of both police departments. They then ignored his requests for medical assistance until they found him unconscious. He had been arrested on June 10 by Fort Wayne Police for maintaining a common nuisance at a house in the 4000 block of Oliver Street. He also had a charge, which amounted to a $61 fine, in Tennessee, Wade's lawyers said Wednesday.