FATHER FILES COMPLAINT WITH POLICE IN DEATH

An Omaha man whose son died from a drug overdose less than an hour
after being released from police custody says police should have
sought medical attention for him.

Roy Lee Reynolds Sr. is filing a wrongful death complaint with the
Omaha Police Department, alleging officers were negligent in not
taking his son to the hospital to get his stomach pumped. Reynolds
said his fiancee contacted the department's internal affairs unit
Friday about setting up an appointment to discuss the complaint.

Reynolds, other family members and friends believe police officers
knew that his son, Roy Lee Reynolds Jr., had swallowed crack cocaine
when they searched him and his vehicle during a traffic stop at 11:30
p.m. on Dec. 28.

A police spokesman said officers suspected he swallowed drugs, but no
concrete evidence existed that justified taking him to the hospital.

Police found the younger Reynolds, 24, unconscious in his car at 3:20
a.m. Dec. 29 near 46th Street and Redman Avenue. He had been released
from Central Police Headquarters at 2:30 a.m., said Sgt. Dan Cisar.

A pedestrian who saw Reynolds having a seizure had flagged down a
police cruiser. Reynolds was rushed to a hospital, where he was
pronounced dead.

Douglas County Coroner Tom Haynes said autopsy results show Reynolds
died from an overdose of cocaine.

Reynolds Sr. said he believes his son swallowed the drugs to avoid
arrest the night before he died.

"They should have taken him to the hospital and got his stomach
pumped," he. said.

Tiffany Filhiol and another man were with Reynolds when police
stopped him. Filhiol said Reynolds had crack in his possession at the
time.

Neither she nor the man saw Reynolds put crack into his mouth,
Filhiol said, but police suspected Reynolds had something in his
mouth.

Filhiol said Reynolds was patted down and his vehicle was searched.
After no drugs were found, police tried to get Reynolds to "spit it
up," she said.

"They said 'Spit it up. Cough it up. We know you got it,'" Filhiol said.

Cisar said Reynolds' actions had led police to check inside his
mouth. Police had been conducting surveillance on Reynolds, who was
convicted in 1999 of possession of cocaine, that night after
receiving a tip, he said.

Police applied a training technique to get Reynolds to open his
mouth, Cisar said. They looked inside and found no drugs or traces of
drugs.

Police took Reynolds and the two others to the city jail, where
Reynolds was strip-searched. While in a holding cell, Reynolds told
Filhiol an officer told him police would take him to the hospital to
have his stomach pumped.

Filhiol was released before Reynolds. She said she learned the next
day that he had died.

Cisar said Reynolds was ticketed for driving on a suspended license
and obstructing a police officer, and he was released at 2:30 a.m.
Reynolds Sr. said his son's girlfriend picked him up from jail.

Fifty minutes later, Reynolds was found unconscious several miles
north of his house on Valley Street.

"They didn't take him to the hospital," Filhiol said.

Cisar said police did everything in their power to ensure Reynolds'
well-being. Had police known Reynolds swallowed drugs, they would
have taken him to the hospital, he said.

He said police asked Reynolds on four different occasions if he had
swallowed drugs. He told them no each time, Cisar said.

"Mr. Reynolds had the responsibility to help himself" if he did
swallow crack, Cisar said. "We were more than willing to take care of
him if he admitted it. As it stands now, we did everything we were
supposed to do."

Haynes said autopsy results did not reveal how the cocaine entered
Reynolds' system. Only traces of food were found in his stomach.

This is not the first time Reynolds Sr. has accused the police of
wrongful death.

In 1995, Reynolds Sr. said he held an Omaha police officer
responsible for his ailing wife's death. He said an officer failed to
seek help for his wife, Sharon Pierro, after her morphine-dosing
machine broke down. Pierro, who had cancer, died the next day.

"She shouldn't have died that soon," Reynolds said. "It hurts every
time I see a police officer. He shouldn't have done us like that."

World-Herald staff writer Karyn Spencer contributed to this article.