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SANTA FE 鈥� The family of a man who died in the custody of Santa Fe County corrections officers in 2024 is suing the county.

They argue the 43-year-old man, who died from complications from pancreatitis, was denied prompt medical care and that his condition was worsened by a jail policy that had him shackled to a hospital bed where he died.

A complaint for damages filed May 8 in 1st Judicial District Court alleges that Brian Toobin鈥檚 civil rights were violated for months after he was taken into custody in 2024 on a warrant for two counts of non-residential burglary, larceny and breaking and entering.

The family鈥檚 attorneys assert that the jail鈥檚 staff largely ignored Toobin鈥檚 鈥渞epeated complaints of ongoing nausea, stomach pain, and gastrointestinal distress,鈥� providing him with over-the-counter medications and Gatorade before sending him back to his cell.

The complaint alleges that jail staff didn鈥檛 explore why Toobin鈥檚 symptoms weren鈥檛 improving until they found him 鈥渋n severe pain and guarding his distended stomach鈥� in early May that year.

That鈥檚 when they ordered him a blood test, which showed that his white blood cell count had increased to seven times the normal range, according to the complaint.

Toobin was then referred to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with severe pancreatitis and acute renal failure.

But over his 62-day stay at Christus St. Vincent, jail staff kept Toobin in 鈥渇ull shackles 鈥� arms, legs, and a heavy chain wrapped around his waist,鈥� according to the complaint.

鈥淭he shackles stayed on even while he was intubated and sedated,鈥� the complaint for damages reads. 鈥淎fter being brought out of the medically induced coma, Mr. Toobin was too weak to stand on his own, or even to lift his hand to his face. Nonetheless, he remained shackled.鈥�

The complaint alleges that jail personnel refused to remove the restraints, citing detention center policy, even when the hospital鈥檚 medical staff said the waist chain was causing bedsores and that his handcuffs were preventing Toobin from completing physical therapy.

Toobin died on July 24, 2024, and the family is arguing that the jail鈥檚 lack of prompt medical response and restraint policy worsened his condition and ultimately prevented him from recovering.

鈥淎s far as we can tell from the documents we鈥檝e seen and what the guards were telling the hospital when the nurses and doctors were asking him to be unshackled, this shackling is pursuant to the detention facility鈥檚 policy,鈥� Reed Colfax, an attorney representing the family, told the Journal. 鈥淪o we鈥檇 like to see that get changed, and that there actually be an individualized assessment based on the danger or risk of an inmate and what their condition is.鈥�

According to an obituary on legacy.com, Toobin was a father of two who had moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to Santa Fe in 2016 to run his father鈥檚 Dairy Queen.

Santa Fe County declined to comment on the pending litigation or to explain the jail鈥檚 policy, but Santa Fe County spokesperson Shawna Graves said two deaths have occurred at the jail this year.

Investigations into practices at Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center go back to at least the early 2000s, when

The family of a Santa Fe woman who died from infections and was recovering from opioid use disorder at the jail also sued Santa Fe County in 2021. The county settled for $787,500 in that case, according to court records.

John Miller is the sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.